In October 2017, three IAEA experts conducted a mission on radiation safety in the Bahamas. The mission, carried out within the framework of an ongoing regional technical cooperation project[1], aimed to comprehensively assess the country’s regulatory infrastructure and to support the creation of a national inventory of radiation sources.
The IAEA team, together with Bahamian specialists, visited 12 medical and industrial sites, including Doctors Hospital, the Center for Specialized Dentistry, and Cancer Care Bahamas, to categorize on-site radiation sources. The team also delivered a workshop on ionising radiation, met with interim regulatory body representatives, and reviewed radiation safety laws, regulations, and processes to identify gaps and provide recommendations for addressing them.
At the opening of the three-day workshop, the Bahamas’ Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Housing Janice Miller acknowledged her country’s close cooperation with the IAEA. “Designation of a regulatory body and its operation – that is, authorisation, licensing, inspection and enforcement, radiation and nuclear protection and safety, safeguards, emergency preparation and response, transportation of radioactive material, import and export, radioactive nuclear waste storage and nuclear liabilities – at each phase, the IAEA will be consulted for guidance to ensure that our obligations as a member are met. The activities of the IAEA experts and local team will assist in establishing and maintaining a national inventory on radiation sources, inform the process of our efforts and, ultimately, lead to the appropriate regulation.”
The activities of the IAEA experts and local team will assist in establishing and maintaining a national inventory on radiation sources, inform the process of our efforts and, ultimately, lead to the appropriate regulation.
