BANGALORE/KARWAR: In a nuclear accident that is bound to raise
key safety concerns ahead of India's ambitious atomic expansion
programme, about 45 employees of the Kaiga atomic power plant
suffered radiation poisoning when radioactive heavy water from
the plant contaminated the drinking water. Kaiga is one of
India's newer nuclear reactors. There was no official word from
the usually secretive nuclear establishment . Sources said the
employees were in hospital because they experienced a mildly
higher level of radiation than permissible on Friday after
drinking from a water cooler near an open area in one of the
reactors. Though a tiny amount of radiation is normal,
scientists said the contamination was unusual because the
affected employees do not go into the actual reactor area but
work around it. '' With no exposure to the reactor directly , it
was surprising to see them with mildly higher level of
radiation,'' was the only comment Kaiga station director A M
Gupta had to offer. Heavy water molecules have tw