Study the passage below and answer the questions.
PASSAGE - IV
The first requirement to ensure nuclear safety is technical expertise which
India has. No questions have been raised so far about the expertise in Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE). The first reactors were imported. Soon after commissioning
the original suppliers left leaving us to fend for ourselves. The reactors have been running
for decades without any serious environmental issues. More reactors have since
been built indigenously with enhanced safety features, and increased power rating.
Continuous monitoring of these shows negligible environmental impact compared to
that arising from natural background radiation. All of this as possible because of the
expertise available in DAE institutions. In the early years, there was self-regulation of
safety. It had to be so because there was no other group working in this field. It worked
very well. As the programme expanded, a full-time regulatory body was needed and,
so, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) came into being. Continuing
absence of education and research a nuclear technology in academic institutions meant
the AERB had to be staffed with experts transferred to it from DAE units. AERB also
had to rely on expertise in DAE for various kinds of analyses. This was facilitated by
the AERB being under the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Information that ought
to have been disseminated in the first place was not available to the public. This has
naturally tended to imputed motives on attitude of AERB and DAE to safety. An independent
regulator is being demanded as the answer. Steps have to be initiated in the
direction now. Meanwhile, reliance on expertise in DAE institutions is inevitable. If
total independence now is impractical and expertise outside DAE is unavailable, only
total transparency on the part of AERB and DAE can redeem the situation. This had
not yet come about. If a larger contribution from nuclear energy is required, more
effort is needed to effectively answer public questions on plant safety and to dispel
needless fear of radiation. A brand new independent agency to be set up now to regulate
nuclear safety may please some people, but would find it difficult to cope with the
demands of an expanding programme with new designs.