CHENNAI: Emergency preparedness in case of a nuclear disaster at the Kalpakkam was put to test by the Department of Atomic Energy and it took 90 minutes for the officials to evacuate 6000 personnel from the site durign a mock drill on Friday.
The DAE has various units functioning at Kalpakkam like Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (under construction), BARC Facilities, Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility, etc.
The entire Site Emergency Exercise conducted every year as a part of the Emergency Preparedness Plan was completed within 120 minutes and it met the requirements stipulated by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The objective of this exercise was to check the preparedness of DAE, Kalpakkam Centre, in meeting any remote emergency situation.
The conduct of this exercise was overseen by the Kalpakkam Emergency Committee (KEC) headed by R Satyanarayana, Station Director, MAPS, who is also Site Emergency Director.
The exercise involved participation of more than 8000 personnel in the site and around 6000 personnel were evacuated by departmental buses and the remaining by their own vehicles.