Nuclear Safety, DGCA and Our Work Culture

The Nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, following massive earthquake

was a wake up call for the sleeping nuclear fraternity the world over.
Coming after a long gap after Chernobyl as it did, the nuclear safety experts
from IAEA to individual power plants started dusting off their safety
manuals. The anti-nuclear lobbies got a shot on the arm. The farmers of
Jaitapur in Maharashtra also saw a ray of hope for shelving of the proposed
nuclear power plant to be set up soon.

Nuclear Safety Audit:

Our own Atomic Energy Commission sought to dispel the fear of nuclear
risks and assured safety of our atomic power plants. The Prime Minister was
nevertheless quick to order a detailed safety audit for all the plants in the
country. Until India signed pact with USA for nuclear cooperation, we were
emphasizing on our safety records and abilities to manage the risks on our
own without intervention from IAEA or international inspectors. In fact we
managed to keep strategic units out of the loop of IAEA.

High Quality Standards of Japanese:

With the recent experience of Japan aided by US efforts to contain the

nuclear fall out at reactors of Fukushima, the world has realized that it is not
simple to manage such a disaster in spite of all the periodic rigid inspections
and standards imposed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group and IAEA. Japanese
industry is very well known for their high standards of engineering in
anything they do. Japan has given the world concept of quality from Deming
to Six Sigma. They are extremely uncompromising on quality & safety
standards. Japan was the first country to experience the nuclear disaster in
the world in WW II and later joined by Russia with Chernobyl melt down.
Their concern and efforts for nuclear safety is therefore very genuine.

Hidden Lapses:

Come Fukushima and chinks in their armor were exposed with stories of
gaps in maintenance and reporting of faults coming out. This was followed
by stories of similar lapses in US nuclear plants. It is shocking to read that
about a quarter of such faults are unreported even in the developed world.
Common man does not know the implications of such neglect and lapses.
One has to only pray that nothing wrong happens in the next door nuclear
power plant.

Indian Safety Concerns and Standards:

India’s safety standards are borrowed from the leaders in the industry,
IAEA, and NSG. We may have added a few from our local experience over
the years based on our own mini-disasters in last thirty years. The safety
audit ordered by the PM may throw new gaps and needs for fortification in
terms of both the equipments and the procedures. While new equipments
and physical safety features as may come out of global findings from
Fukushima experience can be installed, the real worrying factor is the
procedural part.

We in India are known for the “Chalta Hai” culture. It is deeply ingrained in
our national character. Talking about nuclear safety, I am distracted in a
relevant way by the DGCA and “fake pilot scam” of Indian Civil Aviation
sector. Flying is the riskiest but fairly routine part of our modern life.
Nuclear accident may happen once in ten years but flying accidents can be
any minute anywhere. Most of such accidents are due to neglect in
maintenance of aircrafts or negligence of the pilots. And how well secured
are we in Indian aviation sector? We fly with comforting thoughts of brand
image of the airline, little knowing that the pilot may be just a school
dropout with a fake degree and a fake license. It reflects very poorly as far
as our national concern for safety of million in the skies is concerned.

DGCA has ordered scanning of over 10,000 pilots as a fall out of the scam
of the month. Four persons have been arrested in this connection. DGCA has
also started dialogue with the flying training schools in the country. But it is
difficult to believe that such a massive scam in sensitive area can be
handiwork of few lower level officers. DGCA has miserably failed to
regulate, identify malpractices and control the high standards of safety
expected by the public. The civil aviation ministry interferes even in day to
day running of the national airlines but it is strange that they have not yet
been able to find a scapegoat at higher levels! Why no one is held
responsible for such lapses in training and certification of pilots. In all
probability, the scam will die down with reviews and tightening up of some
norms. After all, we will be told that aircraft “Udata Hai Na?” version of
“Chalta Hai” culture.

Lack of Safety Culture:

Coming back to the nuclear safety! The DGCA scam shows that our work
culture is extremely weak even in high risk business of flying. Our nuclear
plants may follow the best business practices and standards of the nuclear
world. However, when it comes to our work ethics there is a lot to be
improved. As of now we have not heard of lapses in atomic power plants
and we hope they are in safe hands. But our concern for safety at all levels-
from helmet for two wheelers to car seat belt, from crossing the roads to
hiring aircraft pilots is abysmally low. Given such poor record of enforcing
anything related to safety at individual, industry and government levels, it is
a big question mark if we can be confident of safety of more than a billion
people from our 18 nuclear power plants. Can there be different work
culture? Can we learn from Japanese experience?

Allay Public Fear:

The prime minister’s review of safety must address such core concerns and
allay the public fear not politically but on technical and humanitarian fronts
so that Jaitapur and other locations can sleep in cozy comfort. The
government must publish a white paper, after the audit and implementation
of addition measures if any, which can be in public domain for common man
to understand what the nation is doing to ensure highest levels of safety of
each plant while planning for nuclear powered growth.

Disaster Management for Nuclear Safety:

We also need well trained disaster management teams, involvement &

sensitivity of local administration and periodic drills involving local
population to tackle any untoward nuclear incidents and mishaps. Remember
we could not handle floods in Mumbai in 2005!

There is no doubt that nuclear power seems to be the only answer to the
needs of the nation considering depleting coal reserves the world over. But
the powers that be need to handle issues with great concern, care and well
beyond political platforms. Or else, we may be told by the politicians“Aisa
Chhota Mota Haadsa to Hotey Rehta Hai….”.
Let us pray that better sense prevails. Amen!

Vijay M. Deshpande,
Corporate Advisor,
Strategic Management Initiative,
Pune-411021

March 27, 2011

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