C Shivakumar
Chennai:
Nine people, including three employees working in Kalpakkam nuclear reactor and six of the families of employees working in the establishment, died of multiple myeloma and bone cancer, according to Department of Atomic Energy.
Reacting to a RTI plea by National Alliance of People’s Movement state youth coordinator Y Aruldoss, the DAE in its reply on November 17, 2011 said that five people died of multiple myeloma, a rare bone marrow cancer arising from plasmocytes, in the last 16 years.
They include three employees who died after retirement and two family members, the DAE said. Interestingly, two cases of multiple myeloma were detected while the employees were in service and one was detected after retirement, the DAE report said.
Similarly, the DAE report said four family members of the employees working in Kalpakkam nuclear reactor died of bone cancer.
Currently, there are two family members of the employees, who still have multiple myeloma, and two, who have bone cancer, the report said.
However, there is no information on the deaths of children died and affected by multiple myeloma and bone cancer, DAE stated.
When Express contacted Dr V Shanta, chairperson of Adyar Cancer Research Institute and a member of the Union government expert panel, with the figures released by DAE, she said multiple myeloma is not going up in the cancer registry and refused further comments.
Dr Pugazhendi said the government should do a similar study done by Electric Power Research Institute in California in November 2011 which suggested recommendations for Nuclear Regulatory Commission and National Academy of Sciences in United States.
Stressing the need for compensation based on Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Programme Act, signed into law in Oct 30, 2000 by then US President Bill Clinton, Pugazhendi said multiple myeloma is compensated under this law.
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