Mrs Hilary Alexander, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology for Jamaica, joined the Director General of the IAEA, Mr. Yukiya Amano, in inaugurating the First Coordination Meeting of an ongoing technical cooperation (TC) project which seeks to establish and maintain a ‘cradle-to-grave’ control of radioactive sources. The meeting opened on 4 April in Kingston, Jamaica.
Around the world, radioactive sources are deployed in a broad variety of contexts, from cancer treatment clinics to pastoral farmlands to state-of-the-art research facilities. However, when these same radioactive sources reach the end of their useful life, they must be carefully managed and subjected to the appropriate disposal processes in order to prevent them from becoming ‘orphans’. Orphan sources are understood to include any disused radioactive sources that have fallen outside of established regulatory controls, whether due to loss, abandonment or theft.
With the aim of protecting the public from the hazards of ionizing radiation and preventing disused sources from becoming orphaned, the IAEA promotes ‘cradle-to-grave’ control of radioactive sources as an essential component of a strong regulatory infrastructure.
As part of the ongoing project, the participating Member States will receive support and guidance from the Agency in drafting policies and strategies on the lifelong control of radioactive sources. These policies will ensure that sources are effectively regulated at all times, from their production, trade, use, recycling and reuse, repatriation, transportation, storage and eventual disposal.
The coordination meeting brought together 16 national representatives from 9 Member States in the region, namely Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela. The meeting also benefitted from the presence and participation of three partner organizations—Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), US Department of Energy, and US Nuclear Regulatory Commission—which joined attendees in discussing and eventually agreeing on the targets and work plan for the four-year technical cooperation project.
