News


Technical Meeting on Radiation Protection of the Public from Radioactive Residues in Central Asia

Uranium mining and milling was an intensive industry in most of the Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union. Development of most of the uranium deposits in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and some in Kazakhstan, was stopped some time ago and it has left a legacy of radioactive and other toxic residues. All of these countries found themselves facing the problem of safe management and remediation of many sites affected by the operation of uranium mining and milling facilities. The IAEA will hold this meeting to discuss and review a Framework Document which is intended to serve as a summary technical reference document. This document is an outgrowth of the collaborative efforts of several international organizations. It is designed to provide a technical baseline for those organizations interested in becoming involved in remediation activities at these sites. The document will describe baseline conditions at several of the sites in these countries, based upon available information. In addition the document will present a portfolio of projects that are needed to address the risks posed by these sites and facilities. In the course of the development of this document the IAEA has consulted other international organizations that had previous involvement in mitigating consequences of uranium legacies in Central Asia.

Interested parties are welcome to participate in the above-mentioned IAEA Technical Meeting, which will be held at IAEA Headquarters from 24 to 26 of November, 2009. Participants must be nominated through the appropriate official channel and are responsible for their own travel arrangements and related costs.

For further information please contact R.Edge

 

Training packages on radiation protection of patients available in Spanish

Training course material on radiation protection of patients (RPoP), previously only available in English from the RPoP website, is now also available in Spanish. Recently, the Spanish version of the training package in the field of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology was released for general (and free) access, in cooperation with Technical Cooperation Latin America Regional Projects - Radiation Protection of Patients (TSA 3) and Supporting Radiation Protection Infrastructure through Education and Training (TSA 6). It is the first from a total of six training packages which will be released over the next few months. For the first time doctors, patients, medical physicists, technicians and regulators of Latin America now have access to this learning material in their language. This will facilitate organization of national training courses and dissemination of technical information through the internet on the topic of radiological protection of the patient in medical exposures in Latin America. In the first month of availability (September 2009), the download area for this course received more than 2000 hits. Following this first translation will be training packages on the topics of Radiation Protection in: Radiotherapy, Nuclear Medicine, Prevention of Accidental Exposure in Radiotherapy, Cardiology and PET/CT in the Spanish language.

 

6th International Symposium on NORM

The Sixth International Symposium on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM VI) will be held in Marrakech, Morocco on 22–26 March 2010. The symposium is being organized in cooperation with the IAEA by the Hassan University of Mohammadia and the Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakech. The objective of the symposium is to review the technical and regulatory developments concerning exposure to naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), particularly the progress made in identifying, quantifying and managing the radiological risks associated with mining and industrial operations involving NORM. It will also provide a forum for discussing the way forward towards an internationally harmonized regulatory approach. The symposium is the sixth in a series of symposiums on NORM, the first of which was held in Amsterdam in 1997 and the most recent (NORM V) in Seville, Spain in 2007. The major topics of the symposium include radiation protection in workplaces involving NORM (including non-production situations such as maintenance, decontamination and decommissioning), transport of NORM (including cross-border issues) and the uses and management of NORM residues (including applications in agriculture and construction, recycling of contaminated metals and disposal of waste).

The Agency's involvement in this Symposium forms part of its Programme on Exposure to Natural Sources of Radiation.

Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources

Legal and technical issues related to the management of sealed sources, in particular when these sources are reaching the end of their life cycle, or when orphan sources are detected at borders or during transport have been raised in previous meetings on sharing of information on States’ implementation of the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources and its supplementary Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources. The IAEA organized a Technical Meeting at its Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 29 June to 1 July 2009, to discuss these issues and identify possible strategies. The conclusions of the Technical Meeting will be used by the Secretariat as input for the next information exchange meeting on the Code and its Guidance, scheduled for 2010. more

Archive news

Regional Training Course on “Accident Prevention in Radiotherapy” Santiago de Chile, 16 - 20 March 2009

From 16 – 20 March 2009, the Regional Training Course on Prevention of Accidental Exposure in Radiotherapy and Risk Analysis was carried out in Santiago de Chile, hosted by the Chilean Health Ministry (MoH), Public Health Institute and the Chilean Commission of Nuclear Energy (CCHEN) in collaboration with the IAEA, in the frame of its Technical Cooperation Programme of Regional Project RLA 9067 Thematic Safety Area 3 on Protection in Medical Exposure. A multidisciplinary group of 66 participants from 18 Latin American countries attended the event. The participants included radiation oncologists, medical physicists and national regulators. The course was opened by the Chilean Authorities (MOH, CCHEN, and the Chilean Society of Radiotherapy), the Pan American Health Organization and the IAEA, with the collaboration of the Ibero American Forum of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Regulatory Bodies.

Lectures and practical exercises on types of risk analysis were presented, including normative, retrospective and proactive methods. The course focused on enabling participants to use these methods in their respective countries, and for this reason, a major part of the course was devoted to table-top exercises on matrix risk analysis and prevention of accidental exposure. In addition, a 1-year work plan was designed which includes: exercise(s) to apply the lessons learned in participants’ respective radiotherapy departments, implementation of risk matrix approach, evaluation and a workshop to analyze the outcomes.

In conclusion, it should be underlined that the course was received with enthusiasm by the participants. A multidisciplinary team of professionals agreed to work together to reduce risk in radiotherapy with attention to achieving and documenting the outcomes.

RPoP

The website of the Radiation Protection of Patients (formerly Radiological Protection of Patients) has got a new look and feel in January 2009. Popular among medical professionals, health professionals and regulators, the regular monthly updates on the website attract wide attention. Training material in different thematic areas is available on this website for free download, and the latest literature covering papers published in the current month, the latest news, upcoming events and additional technical content in topical areas such as PET/CT, Cardiac CT, CT colonography, DXA, dental radiology and interventional cardiology provide visitors with information in a simple and palatable way. You are encouraged to provide feedback. We value your input.

Mission to Ukraine, December 2008

During 3-5 December 2008 Eliana Amaral, Dir-NSRW chaired the IAEA mission to Ukraine. Ms. Amaral and other IAEA staff members were invited by the State Nuclear Regulatory Committee of Ukraine (SNRCU) to participate in the 2nd Annual Topical Meeting on Nuclear and Radiation Safety, organized by SNRCU, and to visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Ms. Amaral opened the meeting and gave a lecture on the IAEA Waste Safety Programme. The meeting was led by Ms Olena Mykolaichuk, the Chairperson of the SNRCU, and was attended by more than one hundred Ukrainian and international experts, top executive managers of the relevant authorities of Ukrainian and neighbouring countries. Representative of the public, NGOs, and mass media were also present and actively participated in the panel discussions.

Ms. Amaral also visited the facilities in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, including the waste management and disposal facility “Complex Vector”, the Chernobyl NPP industrial site and the destroyed Unit 4 (“Object Shelter”). During this visit Ms. Amaral was accompanied by Mr. Gytis Maksimovas, Head of the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate of Lithuania (VATESI) and Olga Makarovska, the Deputy Chairperson of the SNRCU. Ms. Amaral met with Mr. Andriy Selskiy, the manager of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Mr. Volodymyr Tokarevskyy, the Director General of the State Enterprise ”Radon” and Mr. Igor Gramotkin, the Director General of the Chernobyl NPP. Ukraine expressed the appreciation of the IAEA’s contribution to the meeting and invited the IAEA to continue the cooperation in this direction

Outcomes of round-table discussions at GC 2008

During the 52nd General Conference of the IAEA, several Permanent Missions in Vienna, in cooperation with the Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety (NSRW) hosted a reception and round-table discussions on selected topics. Specifically, the Permanent Mission of France (in its capacity as the EU Presidency) hosted the discussion on "Medical exposures to ionizing radiation - a worldwide priority for radiation protection"; the Permanent Mission of Australia, in cooperation with NSRW and the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology (NEFW) hosted host the discussion on "Upsurge in the Uranium Mining and Production Industry; and the Permanent Mission of Canada hosted the discussion on Denial of Shipments. See photo highlights.

Strengthening regulatory infrastructure for safety

To strengthen national safety infrastructure, two Technical Meetings were held this year at the Agency headquarters in Vienna. The first Technical meeting on The Establishment of the International Regulatory Knowledge Network was held on 24-28 November 2008 and focused on the possible mechanisms to share information, while the second Technical Meeting, "Self-Assessment of National Regulatory Infrastructure for Nuclear and Radiation Safety", was 16-19 December, 2008, discussed and obtained feedback from Member States regarding their respective approach to self-assessing their own regulatory activities relative to international undertakings.

Safety Standard on Classification of Radioactive Waste approved by Commission

Safety Series No. 111-G-1.1The Commission on Safety Standards (CSS) approved the draft (DS390) of the revised international safety standard "Classification of Radioactive Waste" during its 24th meeting held on 4 September, 2008. The revised standard is a significant revision of the 1994 international standard on the subject and introduces a number of new concepts. A major development is that all radioactive waste types are now covered by the revised standards in a coherent manner, including disused sealed sources (if declared waste) and all waste containing naturally occurring radionuclide. read draft

Regional Workshops on Denials of Shipment of Radioactive Material

In light of rapidly increasing application of radioactive sources, particularly in medical and industrial sectors, cases of denial and delays of shipments are a reality of today, and are likely to increase in the coming years. It is further noted that carriers/consignors impose additional constraints and conditions on such shipments. The implications of such instances are manifold, resulting in, among other aspects, hardships to patients and disruptions in construction projects or industrial development. Regional Workshops on Denials of Shipment of Radioactive Material- Following a successful Workshop on the same subject for the Latin American region, a series of such events for Africa and Asia, as well as for... read more

Joint Convention: Meeting to organize Third Review Meeting

An organizational meeting was held at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on 13-14 October 2008 in preparation for the third review meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management on 11-22 May 2009. Its main aim was to ensure the proper organization of the review meeting by agreeing between the Contracting Parties on matters such as the number of country groups to participate in the peer review process, the officers of these country groups and the other officers for the review meeting.

IAEA Board approves Transport Safety Regulations

Bradwell (Magnox NPP) UKHarmonization of various international regulations is necessary to avoid misinterpretations and to ensure the safe, secure and expeditious transport of radioactive material world wide. By implementing the GC(50)/RES/10 the IAEA and the UNECE have established a process by which differences between their regulations can be reconciled. The 2009 edition of the IAEA Transport Regulations (TS-R-1) and the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (Orange Book) encompass the first results of such a process.

International Action Plan for Occupational Radiation Protection

The third meeting of the Steering Committee was held at the IAEA headquarters on 28 to 30 January 2008 in response to a recommendation of an international conference on Occupational Radiation Protection at the Headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva in August 2002, the Agency and ILO formulated an International Action Plan on Occupational Radiation Protection. The overall objective of this plan is to focus the efforts of the relevant international organizations, in particular the Agency and ILO, to assist their Member States in establishing, maintaining and, when necessary, improving programmes for the radiation protection of exposed workers. To ensure the successful implementation of this action plan, these two organizations established a Steering Committee having a general remit to advice on and monitor the practical implementation of the action plan.

The first and second meetings of the Steering Committee were held at the Headquarters of the Agency in Vienna, from 4 to 6 February 2004, and from 25 to 27 January 2006, respectively.

Open-ended Meeting on the Code of Conduct

Open-ended Meeting of Technical and Legal Experts on the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources: Lessons Learned from Implementing the Supplementary Guidance on Import and Export Controls, Vienna, Austria, from 26 to 28 May 2008.

Following the recommendations of the last meeting on sharing information as to State’s implementation of the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of radioactive sources (June 2007), the IAEA organized this meeting to provide a forum for States to share lessons learned in applying the Code’s supplementary Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources “Import/Export Guidance”, with a view to strengthening its harmonized implementation. This meeting was attended by more than 150 delegates from more than 85 countries.

Peer review service on decommissioning established: First mission to UK

In response to the increased request for technical assistance, the IAEA has prepared a new peer review service for planned and ongoing decommissioning projects. It is aimed to complement the existing international peer reviews, such as OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) and IRRS (International Regulatory Review Service).
The objective of the international decommissioning peer review service mission is to provide an independent review of the activities associated with the planning and implementation of decommissioning in accordance with the international safety standards, other relevant recommendations and good practice in Member States in this field. The first peer review is planned to be performed at the Bradwell site (Magnox NPP) in UK in June 2008. The outcomes of this review will be presented and discussed at a technical meeting at the IAEA headquarters in November 2008..

Launch of the Iraq Nuclear Decommissioning Project webpages

A new web area has been launched for the project to decommission the Iraq former nuclear complex. Both IAEA and the Government of Iraq view this overall decommissioning programme with the greatest importance, whilst recognising that it presents many technical and organisational challenges. Many of the nuclear sites and facilities, arising both from the legitimate Iraqi nuclear research programme and from its former covert activities, have been extensively damaged through warfare, thereby presenting unique decommissioning difficulties.

The web feature aims to support the ongoing work on this project by providing information to external stakeholders, including potential technical collaborators, supporting governments, other international organisations and the media.

 


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