Radioactive residues from Chernobyl nuclear accident

During 1987, there were reports that European countries are likely to export radioactively contaminated food items particularly dairy products to India. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board faced  a need to prescribe permissible  levels of radionuclides in food items. This is indeed the first policy level decision taken by the Board on an important policy issue which is associated with strong  emotional overtones. The approach taken by AERB was similar to that the Board followed in the case of safety of medical x-ray installations.

The Board has in it some of the most dedicated and competent professionals endowed with strong administrative skills and sagacity. Each of them contributed to policy development with the singular motive of  overseeing the enforcement of radiation and industrial safety requirements in the installations of the Department of Atomic Energy and radiation safety in the non DAE installations.

The Board was reconstituted a few times. Professor A K De (1983 to 1990), Shri S D Soman (1990-1993), Dr A Gopalakrishnan (1993-1996), Professor P Rama Rao (1996-1999), Professor S P Sukhatme (2000-2005), Shri S K Sharma(2005-2010)  Shri S S Bajaj (2010-2015),  served as Chairman of AERB during the periods shown in brackets. Shri S A Bharadwaj is the Chairman from 2015 to date.

AERB prescribed permissible levels of radionuclides in food items in August 1987 during the tenure of  Professor A K De. The following article describes the developments associated with this development.

Here is the link to that piece of AERB's history:

https://thewire.in/2016/05/24/when-chernobyls-radioactive-residues-were-thought-to-be-in-mumbais-butter-38176/