IAEA experts have conducted a fact-finding mission to Curaçao to better understand the radiation safety-related needs of the Caribbean island. The four-day mission was the first in a series of support activities planned for 2019—including equipment procurements, training courses and expert guidance—to strengthen Curaçao’s regulatory and radiation safety infrastructure.
Located in the southern Caribbean Sea, Curaçao is one of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is home to more than 160,000 inhabitants. In keeping with its mandate, the IAEA supports its Member States, and their respective dependent territories, as they enhance their management and regulatory control of radioactive sources, including those deployed in hospitals, for research purposes or in industry.
Organized as part of an ongoing, regional technical cooperation (TC) project[1] which is supporting eight island and littoral countries in their control and management of radioactive sources, the expert mission took place from 17 to 20 June and marks the launch of a series support activities designed to strengthen the control of sources and to promote alignment with IAEA Safety Standards. Divided into two groups, the IAEA experts reviewed existing regulatory arrangements on the island and advised counterparts in Curaçao on how best to establish an inventory of sources of ionizing radiation.
The Agency experts conducted visits to a number of facilities which currently, or are expected to, deploy radiation sources for medical or industrial purposes. These included dental clinics, hospitals offering radiotherapy or nuclear medicine services and institutions which use industrial radiography for non-destructive testing.
