Scientists in India say the country could be at risk of a nuclear catastrophe — and in this case, Pakistan has nothing to do with it. Kakrapara Atomic Power Station is considered the nation’s best nuclear plant, but its reactors emit radiation three times greater than the international norm. With 12 other nuclear reactors in even worse shape throughout the country — most modeled after a plant first built in the U.S. in 1957 — scientists fear another Chernobyl. Three hundred incidents involving radiation leaks and “physical damage” to workers have already occurred, according to scientist Dhirendra Sharma, but, “These have so far remained official secrets.” The chair of India’s Atomic Energy Commission says high-tech safety upgrades are too expensive for developing countries, and that India can’t be held accountable to international nuclear-safety standards unless the industrialized world helps make that technology available.
