India: Safety of Nuclear Power Plants, an Ongoing Process: Govt

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Noting that safety of nuclear power plants was an "ongoing" process, the government today said procedures followed by India were more than the prescribed international standards. Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's Parliament, that while 90 per cent of the safety procedures have been followed, the rest will be in place soon. "It is an ongoing process," he said during Question Hour. He said safety procedures followed in the 19 nuclear power plants in the country were more than the prescribed international standards. The minister said against the backdrop of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had held a meeting with officials to review safety measures at the Indian nuclear facilities. He said besides the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), six other committees had gone into the issue of nuclear safety and their reports are in the public domain. AERB periodically inspects and evaluates safety standards of nuclear installations in the country. A bill to grant statutory status to the body is ready and was in the public domain, he added. PTI