India has emerged as one of the largest producers of food and agricultural commodities with a total production of 600 million tonnes. As a result of green revolution, tremendous increase in cereal production was achieved whereas production of pulses and edible oil remained stagnant. There is a need to increase the pulses and oil seed production in the country to attain self-sufficiency in food. Through the radiation-induced mutation programme for improvement of crop plants, DAE has produced 10 varieties each of groundnut and pulses and 2 of mustard with desirable characteristics such as higher yield, disease resistance, oil content etc., which have made profound impact nationally.

Enhancement of productivity and quality of oil seed and pulse crops through mutation breeding, conventional and biotechnological means need to be continued. Primarily, groundnut, mustard, soybean, linseed, blackgram, cowpea, greengram and pigeonpea will be targeted. The traits to be improved include yield, plant type, tolerance/resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and nutritional/processing quality. To improve the efficiency of selection of plant genotypes with a combination of traits, molecular markers will be developed and used10 . These will be useful for pyramiding multiple genes. Use of apomixis to fix heterosis will be a novel approach in pulses. Where a desirable trait is not available in the germplasm, it will be introduced by the transgenic approach. In an effort to search for alternatives to fossil fuel, improvement of Jatropha curcas as a source of non-edible oil (bio-diesel) will be undertaken. Linkages with agriculture universities and state and union departments of agriculture will be strengthened to achieve the R&D goals as well as for large-scale seed multiplication through seed villages and popularization/deployment of DAE varieties. Ancillary programmes for improvement of soil fertility and crop protection will be initiated or continued as required.

Post-harvest losses of food grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and seafood are estimated to be 15 to 50% and cost thousands of crore of rupees to Indian exchequer. Development of technologies for the prevention of such losses needs attention and radiation processing technology has proved quite effective in preventing such losses. With the phasing out of chemical fumigants by the year 2005 under the Montreal protocol, radiation processing technologies need to be deployed in the country on a large scale. DAE has already set up two demonstration plants, one for low dose applications at Lasalgaon in Nashik district

Radiation processing plant, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra

KRUSHAK, (Krushi Utpadan Sanrakshan Kendra) Lasalgaon, district Nashik, Maharashtra

Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) has signed memoranda of understanding with 12 entrepreneurs for setting up radiation processing plants and one is ready for commissioning shortly. The Department has to gear up to ensure continued supply of radiation sources for these plants. These could be 60Co or 137Cs. BARC should set up facilities for the recovery of 137Cs from radioactive waste11 . In the interim, production of 60Co from PHWRs may be stepped up. PHWR of 700 MWe rating being designed by NPCIL should be designed to facilitate handling of 60Co with minimum man-rem expenditure.

Radiation processing can be done using gamma rays or electron beams or X rays from machines. Machine based plants could be even mobile. In addition to radioisotope based sources, machine sources need to be developed and deployed. For large-scale deployment, monitoring and regulatory aspects have to be given due importance. Towards this end, there is a need for developing on-line methods for detection of irradiated foods. Product associated materials like sand particles could be useful for dosimetry.

Development of alternative methods of food grain preservation such as vacuum storage were also proposed.

R&D activities using radiation technology in combination with appropriate packaging and existing and emerging methods of food preservation (hurdles) will be undertaken. With the shift in consumer preference towards ambient stable and fresh ‘nature like’ foods, focus will shift towards secondary products, minimally processed, ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook convenience foods and traditional ethnic food. Other products with export potential are cut flowers and vegetables and medicinal plants. Radiation processing can also be harnessed to improve certain properties such as colour, aroma and flavour of food ingredients. Degradation of biopolymers by radiation could facilitate their improved amenability to microbial fermentation, which could be utilized for the conversion of food waste to value added products such as organic acids, flavourants, bioactive compounds etc.

Following the approval of the radiation processing as a quarantine measure, irradiation facilities will be required for import as well as export of agricultural commodities. The scale up of the new processes and regulatory approval from the government agencies for the new processes would facilitate their commercialization.

Environment and Health

Environmental impact assessment is routinely carried out before any nuclear facility is set up. The need for such an assessment will grow as the programme expands and therefore, the methodologies and mechanisms for assessment would need strengthening. There was a suggestion for setting up a task force for evolving an improved risk assessment methodology.

An essential component of the risk assessment programme will be monitoring of the radioactive and conventional pollutants around the areas of interest and studying their migration processes and pathways into the ecosystem. Enhancement of the efficiency of the entire process requires development of new monitoring techniques like optical and biological indicators of contaminants in water and food stuff, micro-sensors using MEMS technology, resonance ion mass spectrometry techniques for ultra trace level measurements of actinides etc. Pollution mitigation technologies based on accelerators and non-thermal plasma techniques will have to be utilized.

Indian environmental radiation monitoring network (IREMON)

Development of improved phosphors and monitoring systems for the dose assessment of personnel was proposed. In the studies connected with reactor safety assessments, the existing nuclear aerosol test facility at BARC can be used for future containment related experiments and for validation of the presently used reactor safety codes. The development of models for atmospheric dispersion of species related to the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle and to predict accidental releases needs urgent attention.

Risk assessment of human populations residing around nuclear facilities may be achieved by two approaches. The first approach involves carrying out projective risk estimation after obtaining the inventory of chemical pollutants and the nuclear discharges, and pathway analysis to compile the transfer factors. Using UNSCEAR and USEPA based risk coefficients and standard risk models, the projected risks to the humans can be assessed. The second approach involves direct risk assessment from epidemiological studies of the populations residing around DAE facilities. The data on the socio-economic factors as well as the health records of the subjects under study need to be collected along with the dose data of the DAE occupational workers. These, along with similar data on the populations living in high background radiation areas12 and the industrial radiographers, can be pooled together to estimate low dose risk coefficients. New cancer registries (in collaboration with ICMR) need to be set up around the regions of interest. The R&D component of programme would comprise the radiobiological studies associated with human bio-monitoring, studying the low dose effects etc.

The use of radioisotopes and nuclear medicine will present new vistas in veterinary care and reproduction. This will help in improving quality of meat as well as developing models for human applications. For in vivo imaging in animals it will be useful to add facilities like gamma camera, animal PET/CT and phosphor imager. Newer PET radiopharmaceuticals using 18F and 11C have a good potential for diagnosis of several diseases including brain disorders. Development of therapeutic agents using cyclotron produced radioisotopes like 103Pd and 114mIn/114In for targeted therapies for cancer and 117Lu-DOTMP for bone pain palliation is envisaged. Development of proton beam therapy and 90Sr- 90Y generators and 137Cs based brachytherapy needs to be undertaken.

Among the non-radioisotopic medical technologies, optical techniques for biomedical imaging and diagnosis are proving to be very useful non-invasive methods. Considering the very encouraging results already obtained, R&D in this area needs to be augmented and deployment of such systems should be taken up. Non-linear dynamical methods13 can be applied to get a better understanding of cardiac arrhythmia, cancer and various neurological disorders. Cortical prosthesis for the blind, artificial limb for the handicapped and a closed loop control system for monitoring patients under critical care can be developed using the expertise in electronics and robotics. Lastly, DNA and multi-analyte protein micro-arrays could be developed for diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Water

About 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Only 0.3% of total water on earth is fresh water. Today, India is amongst the water stressed countries (with a deficit of 25%) and by the year 2025, will be amongst the water scarce countries (water availability 1340 m3/person-year; with a deficit of 33%). This is an average figure, but for a large fraction of Indian population, water scarcity is already a reality. Therefore, to ensure a secure future, it is necessary to improve water availability by integrated water resource management, which includes the following.

1. Conservation of water
2. Rain water harvesting
3. Water recovery and recycle
4. Removal of contaminants
5. Augmentation of water availability with large size desalination plants

Nuclear desalination demonstration plant (NDDP) at Kalpakkam

Being a storehouse of technologies, DAE has expertise in many of the above-mentioned areas and with some minor modifications, the available technologies can be adapted for local conditions. India has a 7000 km long coast and along this coastal line, the ocean can be an inexhaustible source of water supply, if only sea water can be converted into salt free water. This can be done through desalination technologies. BARC has expertise in various thermal desalination technologies that include multi-stage flash (MSF), multi effect desalination (MED), low temperature evaporation (LTE), hybrid concepts etc. and has offered this expertise for commercial use to various interested agencies by signing appropriate agreements. BARC also has expertise in various membrane based desalination technologies like reverse osmosis (RO), nano-filtration (NF), ultra-filtration (UF) etc., and has transferred RO technologies to various agencies for commercial use. We have also set up nuclear desalination plants, one at Kalpakkam and the other at Trombay. Nuclear desalination demonstration plant (NDDP) at Kalpakkam is coupled to the Madras Atomic Power Station and the Trombay plant is coupled to the research reactor CIRUS. Whereas the water from the NDDP is being used for potable purposes, the water from the plant at Trombay is meeting the de-mineralized water requirement of the research reactor CIRUS

Low temperature evaporation desalination plant at research reactor CIRUS

BARC should establish large-sized desalination plants coupled to each of the nuclear power plants located at coastal sites. In coastal areas, where nuclear power is not available, conventional fossil/gas based power plants can be used to supply energy. These plants can either use live steam from power plants or utilize the low grade/waste heat from various sources like waste heat from the moderator system of PHWR, waste heat of nuclear research reactors and other process industries.

Wherever adequate power is available, large size reverse osmosis plants can be established to cater to the water requirements of the public and other sectors.

Integrated water management including conservation of water resources, rain water harvesting, recycle of wastewater and purification of contaminated water can solve water problem to a large extent. Isotope techniques in hydrology can be used for water resource development and management. These can be used for estimating submarine ground water resources and recharge of aquifers. Use of new isotopes e.g., 15N & 18O (NO3-), 34S & 18O (SO42-), 11B, 36Cl, 37Cl, 3H/4He, 222Rn, 226Ra, will give additional information in the area of inter-aquifer interrelations, ground water salinization mechanism as well as sources and mechanism of ground water pollution by arsenic, nitrate and fluoride, sites for rain water harvesting. The new techniques can also generate baseline isotope data for national river interlinking programme and to identify the leakage sites in dams and lakes etc.

Filter developed by licensees based on BARC technology

R&D efforts should continue towards development of the following.
1. Tailor made membranes for radioactive effluents treatment and for removal of specific contaminants.
2. Membrane technology for making water available for domestic use from brackish water and recovery & recycle of household waste water similar to the success story of on-line domestic water purifier.
3. The new technology of carbon aero-gel based capacitive de-ionization which can be used on small as well as large scale to produce potable as well as industrial grade water.
4. In coastal villages, wind based and solar energy based desalination systems can be explored in association with appropriate agencies.
5. Technology for use of ocean thermal energy gradient (OTEG) for desalination in association with appropriate agencies.

Urban and Rural Waste management

Urban waste includes solid, liquid and gaseous matter generated from homes, industries, public utilities such as hospitals, automobiles etc. These wastes, when not disposed properly, result in the deterioration of the environment resulting in health hazard and disturb ecological balance. The conventional methods like incineration of solid wastes are undesirable due to poor performance and toxic emissions. Plastics, which have become a primary component in the urban waste, are not biodegradable and cannot be disposed off by incineration due to the formation of toxic gaseous compounds.

Nisargaruna plant at Trombay

The biodegradable wastes, if left unattended, pose health hazards. There is a need for an integrated approach for handling enormous amount of waste generated everyday. Nisargaruna, an ongoing project in DAE utilizes the biodegradable wastes to generate energy as well as organic manure. The variety of biodegradable waste as well as variation in weather conditions in different parts of the country present a challenge to its widespread deployment. In recent times, Nisargaruna type biogas plants have been installed at 6 places and agreements have been signed for a few more in Thane and other places. One of the important requirements of this plant is the user for the methane gas produced. Efforts are now on to improve the design of the plant with respect to the mixer, enhanced capacity, sensors for temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide, pH etc. To make this technology versatile, there is also a need to isolate and maintain the microbial consortia that would be suitable for different types of waste.

Sludge hygienization research irradiator (SHRI) facility at, Vadodara, Gujarat

Municipal sewage is another major concern in waste disposal as it contains several pathogenic organisms in addition to heavy metals, useful micronutrients etc. Gamma irradiation can be used to decontaminate sewage sludge and the sludge so treated can be used as a soil conditioner with or without value addition as has been shown by the experience of operating the sludge hygienization research irradiator (SHRI), Vadodara. Deployment of this technology in several metropolitan and larger cities is the need of the hour. The possibility of converting the present sewage treatment plants (STPs) to SHRI type plants needs to be pursued.

For treatment of liquid waste, industrial effluents and flue gases, electron beam technology can be effectively deployed.

Pyrolysis is a process in which carbonaceous material is disintegrated in the absence of oxygen into smaller fragments such as CO, H2, and CH4 etc. Plasma can be used for attaining temperatures that are highly suitable for pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis plant at Institute for Plasma Research

One such system uses a plasma torch technology developed and patented by the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR). Commercial prototype pyrolysis units for medical waste disposal are operational at two major hospitals in the country and a truck-mounted model is also operational. Although the technology is very competitive, it has not gained popularity, as the plasma pyrolysis process is not included in the notification issued by the pollution control board. It is desirable to get the approval for inclusion of this technology under pollution control act through a gazette notification. Further development activity would include increasing the plasma torch power to 50 kW to increase the handling capacity, to develop methods for liquid toxic waste disposal and to design and develop large-scale systems. The setting up of a state-of-the-art gas laboratory would help in carrying out investigations on energy recovery from the process.

Another application of the plasma is through atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) for the pollution abatement. A laboratory model has indicated considerable dissociation of hexane, benzene and other petrochemical pollutants and this system is operational at IPCL, Vadodara and there is an increasing demand for these systems. The efforts would be towards commercializing the APGD technology, development of a catalyst and development of a high voltage compact power supply.

Overall, depending on the type of waste, a location-specific management is called for. Its advantage in indirect terms like savings in health care cost, far outweighs the initial installation cost of the different types of plants.