Scrap dealers and concerned Govt. authorities are responsible for the lapses of this accident here in Delhi :-
-New Delhi, April 9 – The powerful radiation from ‘Cobalt-60’ injured 5 persons including the one who seriously affected in the west Delhi industrial area. Bhaba Atomic research Centre (BARC) and Narora Atomic Power Station scientists examined Mayapuri industrial area this morning.

They were in search of whether any other source of a similar emissions in the locality which will injure the health.

Scare was started in the area last night. After the news of a radiation seeps out by injuring five persons with serious ill, the locality was scared. It was after coming in contact with a “mysterious shining object” in a scrap shop. The experts have recognized the material as Cobalt-60 today morning.

A member of National Disaster Management Authority and former Director of BARC, B B Bhattacharya, told that they have spotted six sources of Cobalt-60 from the scrap shop.

The Neutron activation of 59 Co produces the radioactive isotope of cobalt, Cobalt-60. Due to its short half life, it is artificially producing as not found in earth. This hard brittle gray metal similar to iron and nickel in its properties and it is magnetized like iron also. It is produced for commercial use in linear accelerators.

Cobalt- 60 is also using in sterilizing medical equipment and in medical radiotherapy as a radiation source.
One of the main usages of Cobalt- 60 is in sterilizing medical equipment and in medical radiotherapy as a radiation source. Also, it is used in fabrication work especially for welding steel.

“The team had identified the source of radiation. They have collected the material and isolated it. They are examining it, ” Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police told.

Deepak Jain, the scrap dealer undergoing treatment in Apollo Hospital, is in a severe condition. After he admitted in the hospital as he suffered severe burn injuries, the incident immediately reported to the government. Bhattacharjee said the radiation was from a “very powerful source.”

After the news came out, police defend the people to enter the area up to one km. There are approximately 200 scrap shops in the market.
- PANIC spread in the Capital on Thursday evening after a scrap dealer and three workers at his shop suffered burn injuries because of suspected radiation in West Delhi.

The police cordoned off the Mayapuri Phase- II industrial area and experts were rushed there after doctors confirmed that the scrap dealer and the workers had suffered burns because of some radioactive substance, the police said.

The market, located near one of Delhi’s major industrial centres, has at least 300 big and small scrap shops.

A scrap consignment was lying for over three days in the shop where the workers were burnt, the police and the nearby shop owners said.

A team of two scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre had shielded the radioactive substances by late evening, said S. K. Malhotra, spokesman of the research centre.

“ Another team of experts from the Narora nuclear plant is heading to the Capital with sophisticated equipment to completely neutralise the radiation, ” Malhotra told news channels.

A team was also requisitioned from the Mumbai- based Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which found during screening that radioactive emissions were coming from the scrap.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P. Chidambaram were informed of the incident.

According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, there was a report of a radiation after which all shops in the area were shut down. The people and the police watched from a distance as experts scanned the shop where the workers were injured till late night, looking for clues about the nature and source of the radiation.

Deepak Jain, the injured scrap dealer, found the “ bright, shining object” among medical waste he had bought from a hospital in west Delhi. “ When he and his three workers opened the bag, they noticed that their hands were turning black and they fell unconscious, ” a senior police officer said.

However, Sharad Aggarwal, deputy commissioner of police of the west district, said he couldn’t confirm any of these details. “ Central teams of experts are trying to establish all these specifics. We can’t say anything with surety, ” he said.

Aggarwal said the experts were called in after doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( AIIMS) gave their reports.

The police said panic spread fast as the four injured persons complained of burning sensation. They were rushed to the AIIMS, after which the police cleared out the market.

“ We are trying to keep people away from the area and even policemen have been asked to keep a distance. We don’t have the kind of safety gear required to venture anywhere close to the shop, ” said a senior police officer.

Two of the four injured persons were later shifted to the Safdarjang Hospital’s burns ward as their injuries were severe, doctors said.