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Advocating For Strong 'Cradle To Grave' Control of Radioactive Sources

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Taking a holistic approach to manage radioactive sources from 'cradle to grave' enhances safety and security, and enables countries to overcome limitations to obtain radioactive sources for use in health care, agriculture and industry, agreed participants at an IAEA workshop last week.

The week-long workshop at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, entitled Design a Model Project for Applying the 'Cradle to Grave' Concept for the Control of Radioactive Sources, brought together 50 experts. They shared best practices on establishing robust and comprehensive control systems for the safe and secure management of radioactive sources, including their disposal.

"We drew attention to the Agency's work in strengthening the capabilities of Member States to establish robust and comprehensive control systems for the safe and secure management and disposal of radioactive sources all along their life cycle - from the beginning to the end," said Juan Carlos Lentijo, Director of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology at the IAEA.

"This holistic approach stipulates that measures are taken at every stage of the life of a radioactive source to ensure its safety and security, and to prevent radiation accidents or emergencies," he added. "It is vital that radioactive sources are properly labelled and registered at their origin, and that appropriate control mechanisms are in place to trace them throughout their life cycle, from the manufacturer to the user and ultimately to their safe disposal."

Mr. Lentijo emphasized that one of the most vulnerable stages in the life cycle of radioactive sources is "when they are not any more of value; rather they become a burden for the user."

Coinciding with the event, the IAEA also launched a new film entitled From the Cradle to the Grave - Paving the Way for the Control of Radioactive Sources.

Strengthening Safety and Security Measures Across the World

Firm control over the illicit diversion of radioactive materials and strengthened safety measures to protect people against ionizing radiation are particularly important, said Ambassador Györgyi Martin Zanathy, Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the International Organizations in Vienna, addressing an open information session after the workshop. She highlighted the importance of EU support to the strengthening of nuclear safety and security culture, not only in Europe, but also across the world.

Strengthened regulatory frameworks are the best way to ensure safe and secure management of radioactive sources, particularly radioactive waste, said Jack Ramsey of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Thomas Agee of the United States Department of Energy added that establishing country-specific and regional action plans to enhance the proper management and disposal of radioactive sources were also vital to achieving the overall goal of 'cradle to grave'.

Ambassador Gonzalo de Salazar Serantes, Resident Representative of Spain to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, emphasized the need for higher-level decision makers to be involved from the outset to ensure government buy-in and commitment to policy making.

Charles Grant of the Centre of Nuclear Sciences, University of West Indies in Jamaica and Abderrahim Bouih of Morocco's National Centre of Nuclear Energy, Sciences and Technologies, highlighted issues pertaining to the identification of safe and secure storage facilities for 'orphan sources' and the further support needed from other IAEA Member States in strengthening the mechanisms for radioactive waste management and disposal.

Tangible Results in the Mediterranean

Participants also learned about an ongoing IAEA 'cradle to grave' technical cooperation project in the Mediterranean region.

The project resulted in participating Member States enhancing their regulatory infrastructures for radiation safety, improving management systems for the recovery, conditioning, storage and disposal of radioactive sources, and increasing capacities to develop safety cases and licenses for storage and disposal facilities. The project also facilitated the preparation of radioactive sources for safe and secure storage, and the repatriation of several disused sources with high radioactivity levels to their country of origin.

The success of the project has led to proposals for two new projects: one targeting Member States of the greater Caribbean that face obstacles in fully enjoying the benefits of peaceful uses of nuclear technology for sustainable development in areas such as medicine, agriculture and industry; and the other aimed at facilitating the use of state-of-the-art technology for the management of radioactive sources to build on the achievements already made in the participating countries of the current project. This project will assist Member States in strengthening regulatory frameworks, developing policies and strategies for the management of radioactive sources, and building the capacities of organizations responsible for managing sealed radioactive sources. Both proposed projects will be open for participation to countries with the commitment to put in place long term solutions for the management of radioactive material.

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