IT COULD lead to a nuclear disaster in thearea. High-level radioactive waste fromthe spent fuel reprocessing plant of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)at Trombay has been piling up since1965, and the BARC has not been concerned about it so far. The storagetanks at Trombay contain 15 to 20 lakhlitres of liquid waste. The high-levelwaste released by BARC'S plutonium separation unit at Tarapore near Mumbai, is embedded in Molten glass, which isencased in steel containers and submerged under water.
More than 90 per cent of the totalradioactivity in the waste material produced by nuclear reactors constituteshigh-level waste. It releases largeamounts of heat during decay and thisraises the temperature of the steel containers to 180-200'c. According to theformer director of BARC, A N Prasad, thehigh-level waste collecting at Trombaywas "not that radioactive" to be solidified in molten glass and disposed of inthe sea.