Radio active waste

Nuclear waste

Nuclear waste is the radioactive waste left over from nuclear reactors, nuclear research projects, and nuclear bomb production. Nuclear waste is divided into low, medium, and high-level waste by the amount of radioactivity the waste produces.

Sources of waste

Radioactive waste comes from a number of sources. The majority of waste originates from the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear weapons reprocessing. However, other sources include medical and industrial wastes, as well as naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM).

Management of waste

Nuclear waste requires sophisticated treatment and management to successfully isolate it from interacting with the biosphere. This usually necessitates treatment, followed by a long-term management strategy involving storage, disposal or transformation of the waste into a non-toxic form. Governments around the world are considering a range of waste management and disposal options, though there has been limited progress toward long-term waste management solutions.

Initial treatment of waste

· Vitrification

Long-term storage of radioactive waste requires the stabilization of the waste into a form which will neither react nor degrade for extended periods of time. One way to do this is through vitrification.

Vitrification is the transformation of a substance into a glass. Usually, it is achieved by rapdily cooling a liquid through the glass transition. In a wider sense, the embedding of material in a glassy matrix is also called vitrification. An important application is the vitrification of radioactive waste to obtain a stable compound that is suitable for ultimate disposal.

· Ion exchange

It is common for medium active wastes in the nuclear industry to be treated with ion exchange or other means to concentrate the radioactivity into a small volume. The much less radioactive bulk (after treatment) is often then discharged. For instance, it is possible to use a ferric hydroxide floc to remove radioactive metals from aqueous mixtures. After the radioisotopes are absorbed onto the ferric hydroxide, the resulting sludge can be placed in a metal drum before being mixed with cement to form a solid waste form.

Long term management of waste

· Geologic disposal

The process of selecting appropriate deep final repositories for high level waste and spent fuel is now under way in several countries with the first expected to be commissioned some time after 2010. The basic concept is to locate a large, stable geologic formation and use mining technology to excavate a tunnel, or large-bore tunnel boring machines to drill a shaft 500–1,000 meters below the surface where rooms or vaults can be excavated for disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The goal is to permanently isolate nuclear waste from the human environment.

Deep borehole disposal is the concept of disposing of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors in extremely deep boreholes. Deep borehole disposal seeks to place the waste as much as five kilometers beneath the surface of the Earth and relies primarily on the immense natural geological barrier to confine the waste safely and permanently so that it should never pose a threat to the environment.

Sea-based options for disposal of radioactive waste include burial beneath a stable abyssal plain, burial in a subduction zone that would slowly carry the waste downward into the Earth's mantle, and burial beneath a remote natural or human-made island. While these approaches all have merit and would facilitate an international solution to the problem of disposal of radioactive waste, they would require an amendment of the Law of the Sea.

· Nuclear transmutation

Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another, which occurs through nuclear reactions. Natural transmutation occurs when radioactive elements spontaneously decay over a long period of time and transform into other more stable elements. Artificial transmutation occurs in machinery that has enough energy to cause changes in the nuclear structure of the elements. Machines that can cause artificial transmutation include particle accelerators and tokamak reactors as well as conventional fission power reactors. Nuclear transmutation is considered as a possible mechanism for reducing the volume and hazard of radioactive waste.

· Re-use of waste

Another option is to find applications for the isotopes in nuclear waste so as to re-use them. Already, caesium-137, strontium-90 and a few other isotopes are extracted for certain industrial applications such as food irradiation and radioisotope thermoelectric generators. While re-use does not eliminate the need to manage radioisotopes, it reduces the quantity of waste produced.

· Space disposal

Space disposal is an attractive notion because it permanently removes nuclear waste from the environment. It has significant disadvantages, not least of which is the potential for catastrophic failure of a launch vehicle. The high number of launches that would be required — because no individual rocket would be able to carry very much of the material relative to the material needed to be disposed of—makes the proposal impractical (for both economic and risk-based reasons). To further complicate matters, international agreements on the regulation of such a program would need to be established.

Accidents involving radioactive waste

A number of incidents have occurred when radioactive material was disposed of improperly, shielding during transport was defective, or when it was simply abandoned or even stolen from a waste store.

Goiânia accident

The Goiânia accident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on 13 September 1987, at Goiânia, Brazil. Considered one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, it took place after an old nuclear medicine source was scavenged from an abandoned hospital site in the city. It was subsequently handled by many people, resulting in four deaths and serious radioactive contamination of 249 other people. The dispersal of radiation was equivalent to a medium-size dirty bomb.

Kyshtym disaster

The Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination incident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Russia (then a part of the Soviet Union). It measured as a Level 6 disaster on the International Nuclear Event Scale, making it the second most serious nuclear accident ever recorded (after the Chernobyl disaster). The event occurred in the town of Ozyorsk, a closed city built around the Mayak plant.

The Mayak plant was built in a great hurry between 1946 and 1950. Initially Mayak was dumping high-level radioactive waste into a nearby river, which was taking waste to the river Ob, flowing farther down to the Arctic Ocean.

A storage facility for liquid nuclear waste was added around 1953. Because of the high level of radioactivity, the waste was heating itself through decay heat. For that reason, a cooler was built around each bank containing 20 tanks. In September 1957 the cooling system in one of the tanks containing about 70-80 tons of radioactive waste failed, and the temperature in it started to rise, resulting in a non-nuclear explosion of the dried waste having a force estimated at about 70-100 tons of TNT, which threw the concrete lid, weighing 160 tons, into the air.

Even though the Soviet government suppressed information about the figures, it is estimated that the direct exposure to radiation caused at least 200 cases of death from cancer.\l

Mayapuri incident

April 2010 - A 35-year old man was hospitalized in New Delhi after handling radioactive scrap metal. Investigation led to the discovery of an amount of scrap metal containing Cobalt-60 in the New Delhi industrial district of Mayapuri. The 35-year old man later died from his injuries, while six others remained hospitalized.

Sports Authority of India

Sports Authority of India

Sports today is an integral part of the all round development of the human personality and achieving excellence in sports has great bearing on national prestige and morale. In order to meet the increasing demands of the changing scenario, national as well as international, Government has taken it upon itself to implement programs to promote excellence in sports. At the forefront of the efforts stand the Sports Authority of India (SAI) – the field arm of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. Through its sports promotional schemes, SAI supports and nurtures talent in youth, and provides them with requisite infrastructure, equipment, coaching facilities and competition exposure.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI), a successor organization of the IXth Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1982, was set up as a Society registered of Societies Act, 1860 in 1984 with the objective of promotion of Sports and Games.

Aims & Objectives

* Talent Scouting at micro level & Nurturing talent towards excellence
* Training & International Exposure
* Support Training with Scientific & Sports Equipment and scientific personnel
* Monitor and enhance Performance with a scientific evaluation system
* Training and preparation of National teams
* Sports Infrastructure Development & Maintenance
* Maintenance and up gradation of 4 stadia complexes and a shooting range in Delhi
* To produce coaches and physical educationists of high caliber in different disciplines of sports to broad base sports .

SAI has got two Academic Wings, namely, Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala for coaches and the Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education (LNCPE) at Thiruvananthapuram.

The Sports Authority of India with a view of promoting sports at Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior levels, is implementing the under mentioned schemes all over the country:-

* National Sports Talent Contest Scheme (NSTC) - for Sub-Junior level trainees
* Army Boys Sports Company Scheme (ABSC) - for Sub-Junior level trainees
* SAI Training Centres Scheme (STC) - for Junior level trainees
* Extension Centre of STC /SAG
* Special Area Games Scheme (SAG) - for Junior level trainees
* Centre of Excellence Scheme (COX) - for Senior level trainees

Also, SAI was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing the national teams for different disciplines for the CWG-2010, in collaboration with the concerned National Sports Federation, on behalf of the Ministry of YA & Sports. At the end of the games, India was placed in the Second position in the Medals tally - which reflects the contribution of SAI.

Dowry Prohibition Act

The object in forming the Dowry Prohibition Act and adding provisions in the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act is to remove the evil of dowry system and give protection to women.

DOWRY RELATED ACTS

To prohibit the demanding, giving and taking of Dowry, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 is in force since 1st July 1961.

To stop the offences of cruelty by husband or his relatives on wife, Section 498-A has been added in the Indian Penal Code, and Section 198-A has been added in the Criminal Procedure Code since the year 1983.

In the case of suicide by a married woman, within 7 years from the date of her marriage, the Court may presume that such suicide has been abetted, encouraged by her husband or his relatives. Provision to this effect has been added in the Indian Evidence Act, by adding Section 113-A since the year 1983.

PROVISIONS OF Dowry Prohibition Act

Because of the Dowry Prohibition Act, a person who gives or takes, or helps in the giving or taking of dowry can be sentenced to jail for 5 years and fined Rs.15,000/- or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more. Because of the Dowry Prohibition Act, to give or to agree to give, directly or indirectly, any property or valuable security, in connection with a marriage is prohibited. The giving of or agreeing to the giving of any amount either in cash of kind, jewelry, articles, properties, etc. in respect of a marriage is absolutely prohibited by the Dowry prohibition Act.

Because of the Dowry Prohibition Act, even the making of a demand for dowry also is now prohibited and it is punishable with imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of Rs.10,000/-.

Because of the Dowry Prohibition Act, now nobody can advertise to give money or share in his property as a consideration of the marriage.

Because of the Dowry Prohibition Act, an Agreement between the parties, to give or to take dowry, is considered as void and cannot be enforced in law and the person who has received dowry is liable to return it to the wife.

Genuine presents offered to the Bride or to the Bridegroom, at the time of the marriage, are however not prohibited by this Act. The giving of such presents however must be customary. The value of such presents, however, should not be excessive, compared to the financial status of the parties giving such presents. A list of such presents is also required to be maintained wherein the name of the person who has given the present, his relationship with the Bride or Bridegroom, description of the presents given and the value of the presents is to be mentioned and that list has to be signed by both the Bride and the Bridegroom.

The demanding of dowry itself is a cruel act and can be a ground of Divorce. A husband or his relatives can be punished for behaving cruelly with the wife by demanding dowry and can be sentenced for 3 years imprisonment and also fined. Harassment of a woman for dowry is now a criminal offence and ill treatment of a woman for dowry can also be punished.

On account of the Dowry Prohibition Act, a wife or her relatives can now take recourse of law and if dowry is demanded or a wife is harassed on account of dowry, the persons doing so can be punished.

GROUND REALITY

Unfortunately, despite all these legislations, ill treatment of women in our society still continues. The system of dowry, the evil of dowry still exists. Dowry deaths and Dowry suicides still happen every day. Pick up any newspaper and you will find a case of dowry death or a dowry suicide or harassment of a woman on account of dowry. What is surprising is, that such demand of dowry, such harassment for dowry, dowry deaths and dowry suicides are even found in the affluent and educated society. However, the purpose of legislature in making the Dowry Prohibition Act and amendments to other acts is not lost. On account of such laws, the evils of dowry have definitely come under control. Cases of harassment to wife have reduced and have come to light on account of these laws.

Few years ago, when these laws were not in force, particularly when the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 had not been enacted, there was no remedy for a harassed wife or her parents against the demand for dowry. The numerous cases about the dowry death or harassment on account of dowry which you now read in the Newspapers have come to light because of these laws. If these laws had not been made, a troubled wife or her relatives would not have been in a position to complain against the demand for dowry or the taking of dowry. The evil of dowry has definitely been brought under control to a very great extent by these laws and these laws definitely provide great relief to a wife.

Husbands, however, complain that these laws are being misused and that on account of these laws, wives or their parents make false complaints against the husband and his family members just to harass them. Many times, when a husband files a petition for divorce, the wife or her parents take recourse under the Dowry Prohibition Act and lodge false complaints, under that Act, against the husband or his parents, so as to pressurize the husband. Well, every coin has two sides. It cannot be denied that, at times, the Dowry Prohibition Act, is being misused. But this Law has certainly helped the bride and has reduced the evil of Dowry.

Unless there is a strong awareness in the minds of the people, unless the entire society believes that dowry is an evil, unless the entire society objects to the demand for dowry, unless every mother-in-law thinks that at one time she too was a daughter-in-law, unless every mother thinks that the treatment which she gives to her daughter-in-law can also be received by her own daughter, the evils of dowry will remain in society. The Law definitely helps to prevent the evil of dowry but to make the Law effective and fruitful, people should follow the Law and see that dowry demands are not made and dowry deaths do not occur. A word of advice: One should not treat Marriage as a lottery. After all "The Love of money is the root of all evil".

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Dowry Prohibition Act — a boon or bane?

THE STRINGENT provisions incorporated in the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 (Central Act) have been largely diluted. Recent amendments and rules framed under the Act by State governments reinforce this perception. Whether the teeth provided in the Act had been plucked off as the injustice caused by it was too much, or whether cases filed under the Act and put to test acted as a catalyst for a rethinking about the provisions is a moot point.

When the Bill was introduced in Parliament it was said that its object was `to prohibit the evil practice of giving and taking of dowry.' When a Bill was introduced to amend the Act of 1961, it was said that the evil of dowry had been a matter of serious concern in view of its ever increasing and disturbing proportions. Accordingly the Act of 1984 made some amendments in the Act of 1961.

Some women's voluntary organisations felt that the amendments were still inadequate. Hence the Amendment Act of 1986 further amended the 1961 Act. After the above two amendments, the Act became more stringent. The 1986 Act introduced new sections 8-A and 8-B. Sec. 8-A says that the burden of proving that one has not committed offence u/s. 3 (giving or taking of dowry or any abetment towards it) and u/s. 4 (demanding dowry) is on the person charged.

However, the Supreme Court (AIR 1996 SC 2184) has held that conviction cannot be based on such presumptions without offence being proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The amendments and Sec. 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were introduced presupposing that only genuinely aggrieved women would lodge complaints and that they would invariably tell the truth.

Victims of false cases

Some victims of false cases formed associations and expressed concern over the arrest of the accused husband, his family members and even remote relatives without proper investigation, and money mongering by wife and her relatives led to suicides by many men.

Recently a retired Assistant Director of Prosecution and his wife committed suicide fearing harassment as they were alleged to have committed offences under the Dowry Prohibition Act. A men's welfare organisation functioning in Karnataka made an appeal that punitive punishment should be imposed on those responsible for giving false complaints besides awarding costs and damages to the victims; that tax payer should not be made to pay for mala fide and frivolous complaints; that the process of courts should not be used for settling personal vendetta; that Sec. 498-A of the IPC and the amended Dowry Prohibition Act, which were meant to prevent the victimisation of women, were being increasingly misused by women to blackmail, victimise and harass innocent husbands and their relatives.

When the Dowry Prohibition Act was sought to be amended in 1986, Parliament with a view to checking the misuse of the Act, introduced Sec. 8-B which deals with appointment of dowry prohibition officers by State governments.

The Supreme Court in a number of judgments asked the State governments and Union Territories to immediately frame rules for appointment of dowry prohibition officers under the Act.

The Punjab Government (Act 26 of 1976) substituted Sec. 7 of the Act to the effect that no police officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police shall investigate any offence punishable under the Act or make arrest thereof. Himachal Pradesh has also substituted the provision as above.

Punjab inserted Sec. 8-A as hereunder:

"8-A Institution of Proceedings: No prosecution shall be instituted against any person in respect of any offence committed under this Act without the previous sanction of the District Magistrate or of such officer as the State government may by special or general order appoint in this behalf."

The government of Tamil Nadu also framed the Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Officers and Advisory Board Rules 1998. Dowry prohibition officers were invested with the powers of police officers as per rule 4 of the above Rules.

Tamil Nadu gave more powers to dowry prohibition officers and to stop misuse of the Act, brought in new rules called Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Rules 2004 in supersession of the Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Officers and Advisory Board Rules 1998.

The Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Rules define police officer as Deputy Superintendent of Police of the division concerned. In Rule 3 it is said that dowry prohibition officers shall exercise jurisdiction and powers u/s. 8-B of the Act. Dowry prohibition officers' approach as defined in the Rules is primarily preventive and remedial and for prosecution he can only recommend. Rule 7 further says that dowry prohibition officers shall submit a report before a competent magistrate and the report shall be deemed to be a report u/s. 173 of CrPC.

I do not think in any other statute in India, it has been mentioned that an enquiry should be conducted to collect such evidence from the parties as to the genuineness of the complaint. When the Rule 5 (X) insists that the dowry prohibition officers shall scrutinise the complaint and collect evidence from the parties as to the genuineness of the complaint, we can read between the lines a lot. Moreover, it insists that evidence should be collected from the parties, which means not only on the complainant side but also on the respondent side.

While disposing of a petition, the High Court of Madras (Justice A.K. Rajan) has said:

"It is true that demand of dowry, which originally prevailed among a small sect of people, has not pervaded the entire society due to the educational advancement. Further, due to the constant attempts by various organisations women started complaining about dowry harassment to the police. Of course, it is a healthy sign. But at the same time, it is not uncommon that while such complaints of dowry harassment are made, even innocent in-laws are arrayed as accused. When such false complaints are made, some people, unable to bear such false accusations, go to the extent of committing suicide. This has to be taken note of by the authorities concerned and there must be restraint regarding such complaints against in-laws."

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