Kenya's Nuclear Authority investigates possible radioactive elements in the Makueni rocket ring site

The Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority (KNRA) on Friday took control of the site in Nduluku, Mbooni, in Makueni county where a separation ring from a rocket fell a week ago.

The body which deals with matters radiation protection, nuclear safety, nuclear security and nuclear safeguards will be collecting samples from the scene for analysis, according to the authority sources.

Armed with various radiation measuring equipment, the team combed the area for the entire day piecing together all evidence.

“Our mandate is to confirm whether there are elevated levels of radiation. From our assessment so far, we have found that the levels are about three or four times above the background level,” a KNRA official told locals at site.

According to KNRA, background radiation level is basically taking radiation level away from the source of interest.

The body pleaded for calmness from the locals who claim their health, and property to have been affected to be patient as further studies will be conducted at advanced levels. They added that the locals from the region were living within the required exposure levels of background radiation as evidenced by their preliminary survey.

On Saturday morning, Mary Muthoni, the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Public Health where the Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority (KNRA) is domiciled in a press statement said the ministry had made drastic moves to unearth whether the rocket part could pose any health risks.

She said the ministry had deployed specialized teams which included chemical, biological, and nuclear (CBRN) experts, environmental health specialists among other measures.

“The ministry of health advises the public to avoid the area where the object was found and refrain from handling any unknown materials,” the statement read in part.

Back at Mukuku village, locals want the government to compensate for losses suffered with cracked houses as part of the damages reported.

“My house developed major cracks. This object caused major tremor and confusion to the people that need to be checked thoroughly,” said Musyoka Munyasya

The debris incident happened few days after India launched its first space docking mission that happened on December 30, last year.

The mission named “Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) was launched at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh and this would be seen as a path towards the country’s future space plans, according to international media.