AERB Newsletter

FROM CHAIRPERSON'S DESK

It is with great pleasure I address you through this platform, as the third quarter of the calendar year 2025 comes to a close. This period has been marked by steady progress in our ongoing efforts to strengthen regulatory oversight, enhance safety culture and public trust that we can all take pride in.

Keeping pace with our nation’s ambitious nuclear power programme, AERB took initiative to align the new entrants in the nuclear sector to safely build and operate nuclear facilities. A colloquium on ‘Developing, sustaining and strengthening safety culture’ in joint collaboration with Indian Nuclear Society (INS) and India Energy Forum (IEF) was organised on September 27, 2025. More than hundred participants attended the event in person and online.

Further, in light of the evolving developments in the field of Small Reactors / Small Modular Reactors (SMR), AERB has conducted review of its existing regulatory requirements. Although the existing regulatory framework can generally cater for safety regulation requirements for advanced reactors such as SMRs, except for technology specific aspects for which review may be required when details of proposed sites and design of specific Small Reactor / SMR is submitted to AERB. Considering the projected expansion of nuclear power programme, AERB is also taking proactive steps to examine the currently specified distances of exclusion zone and other zones around NPPs, towards bringing out technology neutral dose dependent criteria. In addition to it, AERB also participates in various international forums to keep itself abreast about the developments in regulation of Small Reactors / SMRs and suitably adopt them when required.

Safety is our first priority as we continue to maintain regulatory oversight on licensed facilities & activities and conduct regulatory inspections across various nuclear and radiation facilities in the country. Our resident site observers provided continuous regulatory oversight at four nuclear power plant sites at Rawatbhatta, Kalpakkam, Kakrapar, and Kudankulam.

This quarter, AERB issued an advisory to address the concerns of the public around medical diagnostic X-ray facilities on the perceived health risk due to radiation from these facilities.

Frequent concerns are being raised by the residents/ people working nearby such facilities on health risk due to radiation leakage from X-ray facilities. Medical X-ray facilities pose insignificant radiation risk to the general public. AERB has the mandate of ensuring radiation protection of society from applications of ionising radiations in the various fields (such as medical, industrial, research). AERB issues Licence for operation of medical diagnostic X-ray facilities from radiation safety view point, based on use of design (type) approved X-ray equipment installed in a shielded room.

AERB has the mandate of ensuring radiation protection of society from applications of ionising radiations in the various fields (such as medical, industrial, research). AERB issues Licence for operation of medical diagnostic X-ray facilities from radiation safety view point based on use of design (type) approved X-ray equipment installed in a shielded room.

AERB participated in international forums and technical meetings with IAEA and regulatory counterparts to exchange knowledge on safety assessment, emergency preparedness, and new reactor technologies. These engagements reinforced AERB’s commitment to global best practices in nuclear and radiation safety. In the quarter, a bilateral technical meeting was held with the nuclear regulatory authority of the United States during August 06-08, 2025, at NRC’s headquarter at Rockville, Maryland, USA.

The first sub-committee of the Hon'ble Parliamentary Official Language Committee, under the leadership of Hon'ble Shri Dinesh Sharma, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), reviewed our activities for the implementation of official language at AERB on July 09, 2025. Shri Dinesh Sharma, convener of the subcommittee and the members were apprised of our initiatives to meet the objectives. The committee expressed their satisfaction with the progress of our efforts and suggested a few improvements.

As part of safety promotion and awareness, AERB, in collaboration with NFC, Hyderabad, organised a workshop for medical & allied health professionals on “Standardization and Uniformity in Methodology for Medical Examination of Occupational Workers in DAE Units” at NFC, Hyderabad during September 11-12, 2025. This joint effort is a testament of our commitment and shared responsibility in ensuring the safety of the workforce.

The quarter July–September 2025 marked continued progress in AERB’s mission to ensure the safe use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India, through vigilant regulation, stakeholder engagement, and proactive safety oversight.As always, I urge every stakeholder in the nuclear and radiation sector to remain vigilant and uphold safety as a fundamental value.

Warm regards,
Dinesh Kumar Shukla
Chairperson, AERB

7.0 VISIT OF CHAIRMAN, AEC TO AERB

Chairman, AEC visited AERB Headquarters at Mumbai on July 31, 2025 and held an interaction meeting with the senior officers. A brief presentation on AERB’s initiative of participative and inclusive decision making through in-house brainstorming (‘Manthan’) was made. Chairman, AEC was also appraised of the revised Integrated Management System (IMS) and its implementation in AERB.

8.0 AERB AND US-NRC BILATERAL TECHNICAL MEETING

AERB participated in a bilateral technical meeting (BTM) with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the nuclear regulatory authority of the United States, during August 06-08, 2025, at NRC’s headquarter at Rockville, Maryland, USA. A delegation of four members represented AERB in this meeting. Technical discussions were held broadly on regulations of new and advanced reactors, codes and standards for advanced reactors, long term operation for nuclear power plants (NPPs), probabilistic safety assessment, and emergency preparedness for advanced and small modular reactors.

9.0 79^TH INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

AERB celebrated 79^th Independence Day on 15^th August 2025 in Niyamak Bhavan Complex.

On this occasion, Chairperson, AERB hoisted the National Flag and addressed the gathering.

10.0 CHAIRPERSON, AERB VISITS ACTREC, TMC, NAVI MUMBAI

Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), a unit of Tata Memorial Centre in Navi Mumbai invited Dr. D.K. Shukla, Chairperson, AERB to its 'Academic Meeting for Eminent Speakers' held on July 08, 2025. Chairman, AERB graced the occasion and addressed the audience on 'Safety Regulation of Radiation Applications.’ The address was followed by an interactive discussion with team of medical physicists of ACTREC.

11.0 COLLOQUIUM ON DEVELOPING, SUSTAINING AND STRENGTHENING SAFETY CULTURE IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

AERB organized a colloquium, in joint collaboration with Indian Nuclear Society (INS) and India Energy Forum (IEF) on importance of safety culture for new entities in nuclear sector on September 27, 2025. Chairperson, AERB delivered a talk on 'Developing, sustaining and strengthening safety culture' highlighting the importance of inculcating a robust safety culture in nuclear power plants. In his talk, he emphasised on the need for strong leadership and highest attention to human and organisational factors, which are the building blocks of safety culture.

Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chancellor, HBNI and Member, Atomic Energy Commission in the concluding remarks applauded AERB's initiative for reaching out to industry professionals and expressed that safety culture can be fostered through inculcating personal believes & values in following safety at work. More than hundred participants attended the event in person and several industry professional joined online.

12.0 WORKSHOP FOR MEDICAL & ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

As part of safety promotion and awareness, AERB, in collaboration with NFC, Hyderabad, organized a workshop for medical & allied health professionals at NFC, Hyderabad during September 11-12, 2025. The theme of the workshop was “Standardization and Uniformity in Methodology for Medical Examination of Occupational Workers in DAE Units”. About hundred participants attended the workshop.

13.0 SWACCHTA HI SEVA CAMPAIGN AT AERB

The ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ Campaign was organized from September 09 to October 02, 2025, at AERB. With an aim to raise awareness among AERB staff, a variety of competitions were held. AERB employees also performed street plays emphasizing on the importance of cleanliness. Additionally, a Walkathon was organized to further promote the message of cleanliness and community participation.

14.0 HINDI PROGRAMME AND ACTIVITIES

Hindi Workshop

Nominated AERB officials participated in the joint Hindi workshop organised under the aegis of joint official language coordination committee of five units of DAE organized by the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), Mumbai during September 02-04, 2025.

OLIC Meeting

In AERB, official language Hindi is implemented and promoted through various channels. To increase the use of Hindi and to make strategies for its promotion and to remove the difficulties faced in its usage, a meeting of the Official Language Implementation Committee (OLIC) is organized every quarter, in which the progress made in progressive use is reviewed and compliance with the rules is ensured and measures are found to remove the obstacles in compliance.

The meeting of OLIC was organized on August 08, 2025 for review of the ongoing Hindi activities during this quarter at AERB.

Hindi Training

With the objective to provide working knowledge of Hindi to all the employees, AERB provides Hindi training every year as per roster through Hindi teaching scheme. A Hindi workshop was also organised at the office level on September 18, 2025 in which eighteen personnel were trained.

Hindi Pakhwada

Hindi Pakhwada was organized at AERB from September 08-23, 2025. Under this initiative, various activities and programmes were organized at AERB. These included Hindi competitions such as Hindi essay writing, Hindi calligraphy, Hindi slogan, Hindi poetry recitation and Hindi typing. Closing ceremony of Hindi Pakhwada was organized on September 25, 2025 and prizes were distributed to the winners of the competitions.

Inspection by Hon'ble Parliamentary Official Language Committee

The first sub-committee of the Hon'ble Parliamentary Official Language Committee, under the leadership of Hon'ble Shri Dinesh Sharma, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), reviewed activities carried out for the implementation of official language at AERB, Mumbai, on July 09, 2025. Chairperson, AERB, and other AERB officials attended the meeting.

Shri Dinesh Sharma, Convener of the subcommittee, apprised about the working and objective of the Parliamentary Committee during the session.The committee expressed their satisfaction with the progress of work being carried out in AERB and suggested some more areas for promoting official work in Hindi.Chairperson, AERB, and other AERB officials attended the meeting. Shri Dinesh Sharma, Convener of the subcommittee, apprised about the working and objective of the Parliamentary Committee during the session.