Nuclear safety, nuclear security and peaceful uses of nuclear technology were among the topics covered by IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano in a presentation at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, this week.
“Nuclear security is an important and growing area of the IAEA’s work,” he said at the University on Monday, noting that the IAEA was the global platform for helping countries to prevent nuclear and other radioactive material from falling into the hands of terrorists. His three-day visit to Jamaica followed the Nuclear Security Summit, which Mr Amano attended in Washington last week.
He highlighted various peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology and the IAEA’s role in making them available for development.
Mr Amano recalled that the IAEA had worked with Jamaica and the United States to convert Jamaica’s Slowpoke research reactor – the only research reactor in the Caribbean region – to low enriched uranium fuel from high enriched uranium. As a result, the Caribbean is now completely free of high enriched uranium, which could potentially be used to manufacture material used for nuclear weapons. The reactor’s capacity has been doubled, which has allowed Jamaica to expand its research and assist other countries in the Caribbean with their scientific work.
A number of scientists from Jamaica have been trained by the IAEA in its nuclear applications laboratories near Vienna, Austria, Mr Amano said. This week, for instance, scientists from Jamaica are participating in a training course at IAEA laboratories on the use of a nuclear-derived technology that can rapidly detect the Zika virus.
The IAEA also assists Jamaica in applying nuclear technology in areas such as water management, nutrition, nuclear medicine and cancer control. In 2013, the IAEA conducted an imPACT review mission in Jamaica to study what cancer services were available and to advise the government on strengthening them. The government has identified a need for new equipment such as linear accelerators, which generate X-rays for use in cancer diagnosis and treatment. The IAEA is working with Jamaica to help improve the availability of radiotherapy services for cancer patients.
“The Agency attaches great importance to its cooperation with Jamaica. We look forward to deepening that cooperation in the future,” Mr Amano said.
Controlling radioactive sources
Mr Amano also attended the first coordination meeting under an IAEA technical cooperation project designed to strengthen control of radioactive sources in the Caribbean. The project will assist Jamaica and its neighbours in developing a regulatory framework to increase nuclear safety and radiation protection.
During his trip, Mr Amano visited Kingston Public Hospital and the International Center for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences. He also met a number of government ministers and a group of medical physics postgraduates.
