Thirty one professionals from 15 different Latin American countries have gathered in La Habana, Cuba, between 27 and 31 October 2014, to take part in a Regional Workshop on safety and the technological aspects of classification, characterization and conditioning of radioactive waste and disused sealed radioactive sources.
The workshop was unusual in that it brought together representatives from operators, regulatory authorities and decision makers in the field of radioactive waste management in Latin America. By including a wide range of different stakeholders working in this area, the workshop aimed to trigger multidimensional reflection on the topic, and to promote a holistic discussion to establish a way forward in Latin America, based on all the different experiences.
Lectures and presentations by participants were followed by active debates and hands-on workshops in the Central Storage Facility for Radioactive Waste in Managua, Cuba.
One of the participants, a member of the Argentinian Regulatory Authority, said "I have now a much better understanding of the challenges that the operators face. I now feel empowered to take better decisions back home".
A country-specific action plan was established that takes into consideration political and regulatory as well as operational dimensions.
"We have learned from each other's strengths and we have a concrete action plan to follow. We have now all the tools to move forward at a greater pace", a participant from Venezuela concluded.
This workshop was fully funded by the European Commission, and was implemented in the framework of the IAEA technical cooperation project RLA/9/078, a project that aims at enhancing effective regional capabilities for safety and technological management of radioactive waste to protect the public and the environment in Latin American Countries.
| Project RLA/9/078 is carried out with funding by the European Union and the IAEA. |
