Qatar Workshop on revision of BSS

Overview

The IAEA organized a 3-day workshop on the revision of the BSS in Qatar in January 2009. The workshop was hosted by the Ministry of the Environment of the government of Qatar. Selected Member States in Asia and in Africa which do not usually attend meetings of the IAEA Safety Standards Committees were invited to participate in the workshop for the purpose of providing:

feedback on the current BSS
expectations for the revision of the BSS
suggestions for areas of draft 1.0 of the revised BSS which require further improvement

Participants

The workshop was attended by 14 participants from 10 countries, namely, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Tunisia and Yemen. In addition there were 30 observers from Qatar including experts from the Ministry of Environment, the University of Qatar, the National Health Authority, Qatar Steel, Qatar Petroleum, and the Hamad Medical Corporation.

The workshop included presentations by a representative of each country participating in the workshop, by the current and immediate-past scientific secretaries of the ICRP on the 2007 recommendations of the ICRP, and by IAEA technical experts on all of the topical areas of draft 1.0 of the revised BSS in which the differences between the current BSS (SS115) and draft 1.0 were high-lighted.

Each presentation was a catalyst for ensuring discussion and feedback on draft 1.0. The participants at the workshop were unanimous in the opinion that there had been great value in holding the workshop, as it had given them the opportunity to have input into the drafting of the revised BSS. Their experiences and problems in implementing the BSS are not necessarily the same as in more developed Member States, and being able to provide this feedback as an input to the revision of the BSS should enhance the quality of the final document.

Outcome

A report summarising the feedback on draft 1.0 of the revised BSS has been prepared that summarises comments made during the country presentations, the discussion following each presentation, the concluding session of the workshop, and written comments received from participants during the workshop. The report will be used as an input to the development of draft 2.0 of the revised BSS. The feedback from the participants included:

The need for the BSS to contain clear requirements in relation to naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), that could be applied to issues in the oil and gas industry
That the BSS should make clearly state who has responsibility for applying each requirement, including requirements relating to the setting of dose constraints and reference levels
The BSS should take into account the needs of Member States that do not have professional bodies to develop local guidelines
That the BSS should be self standing and contain all of the Tables that are needed
Tthat the definitions of some terms needs to be made clearer
That the BSS should clearly explain concepts such as dose constraints

For further information please contact T.Boal