IAEA Media Advisories
Media Advisory 2008/06
Workshop on Transport of Radioactive Materials Opens in Rome, Italy
-- Italian Version
14 May 2008 | A three-day IAEA organized workshop, in cooperation with the Italian Government, opened today in Rome to identify ways to remove obstacles that impede the transport of radioactive material - much of it used in critical medical procedures - among countries in the Mediterranean Basin. The meeting, in the APAT Auditorium, Via Curtatone 3, is open to the press.
The meeting is part of the IAEA´s response to reports of increasing numbers of incidents of radioactive material being denied shipment by carriers.
Because production is limited to a few countries, and some of the radioisotopes, such as iodine-123 - used for heart and thyroid imaging - have a half-life of only hours, any interruption to their delivery can threaten the medical care of patients. According to industry statistics 85,000 nuclear medicine procedures are carried out around the world every day.
Transport of radioactive material used by industry and for the production of nuclear power, as well as medicine, is governed by national and international regulations which ensure high standards of safety. Recently there have been an increasing number of denials and delays of shipment around the world.
Press Contact
Giovanni Verlini
(in Rome)
[+44-79] 057-96581
About the IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Established as an autonomous organization under the United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA carries out programmes to maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology to society while verifying its peaceful use.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit the Press Section of the IAEA's website (http://www.iaea.org/Resources/Journalists/), or call the IAEA's Division of Public Information at (431) 2600-21270.