Technical Meeting on Implementation of the Global Radium-226 Management Initiative
Sealed radioactive sources (SRSs) are used extensively in industry, medicine, agriculture, and various research areas. A radioactive source that is no longer in use, or not intended to be used, for the practice for which an authorization has been granted, is deemed as disused.
Many Member States have legacy stocks of 226Ra, which may present a long-term management challenge for some of them. The IAEA understands this challenge presented by long-lived radionuclides and continues to seek suitable solutions for the stored legacy 226Ra. Conversely, the Secretariat notes that several Member States may have a use for such legacy 226Ra stocks, particularly, in the field of targeted alpha therapy in nuclear medicine.
In light of the above, the Secretariat is coordinating an activity focussing on 226Ra recycling referred as the “Global Radium-226 Management Initiative”. In the frame of this initiative a platform to facilitate information exchange between Member States possessing legacy 226Ra sources and Member States with capabilities and suitable recycling facilities has been established.
This Technical Meeting will review the implementation status of the Global 226Ra Management Initiative. The Contact Points appointed by Member States participating in this initiative will discuss their inventory of legacy 226Ra sources and the capabilities for recycling these sources in recipient Member States. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss the effectiveness of the platform established to facilitate information exchange between Member States possessing legacy 226Ra sources and Member States with capabilities and suitable recycling facilities.
In order to be designated by an IAEA Member State or invited organization, participants are requested to submit their application via the InTouch+ platform by 30 September 2024.
In addition to the registration through the InTouch+ platform, participants who wish to give presentations are requested to submit an abstract of their work. The abstract should be sent together with the Form for Submission of a Paper (Form B), to the competent national authority (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Mission to the IAEA or National Atomic Energy Authority) or organization for onward transmission to the IAEA not later than 30 September2024.
To know more about the event, please refer to the event information sheet.