New Delhi, April 29: Delhi University faculty members failed to recognise the health hazard posed by an instrument spewing gamma radiation they sold as scrap, a senior university official said today, admitting negligence in an incident that led to India’s first radiation death.

A panel of faculty from the university’s chemistry department had authorised the auction of the unused instrument that contained radioactive cobalt-60. It was dismantled by scrap workers earlier this month. One worker who was exposed to the radiation died, and seven are still ill.

“Negligence is obvious,” vice-chancellor Deepak Pental said. “The university is apologetic about what has happened,” he said, announcing that he had asked a panel of experts to probe the negligence.

While the instrument was procured from Canada in 1968 and had not been in use since about 1985, the presence of a gamma radiation facility in the department had been “common knowledge”, a faculty member who had joined the department in the early-1970s told The TelegraphWhile the instrument was procured from Canada in 1968 and had not been in use since about 1985, the presence of a gamma radiation facility in the department had been “common knowledge”, a faculty member who had joined the department in the early-1970s told The Telegraph.

A senior atomic energy official said the unauthorised sale of the instrument by the faculty suggested a level of irresponsibility and laxity unacceptable with radiation sources“None other than the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has the authority to assess the potential health hazard from a source of radiation,” the official said.

“I would not blame scrapyard workers. They may have had little knowledge of radioactivity. But I would not have expected this (action) from a university faculty,” the official said. The panel of chemistry faculty who had authorised the auction was not available for comment. The chemistry department head didn’t respond to phone calls.

Pental said it is possible those who authorised the sale had believed the radioactivity from the instrument was not significant because it was more than 40 years old. 'The inquiry panel will determine why this happened,' he said.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board set up in 1983 has built an inventory of sources or radiation used in hospitals, industry and research institutions, but the cobalt-60 at DU appeared to be outside the AERB radar, a source said.

The AERB has also initiated an independent investigation that is expected to examine the documentation associated with the instrument and determine why it remained out of its inventory, the source said.

'While the AERB collects information -- it also expects disclosure by those [institutions] who possess such instruments,' an official said.

Pental said the university has a 'strong desire' that the incident should be investigated. 'If mistakes have occurred, we should learn from them,' he said. Pental said he would request all university departments to contribute to pay compensation to the victims of the radiation exposure.