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Trends in the Application of Optimization and Graded Approach in Industrial Processes Involving NORM
Date and time
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
13:00 (Vienna, Austria time)
Moderator: Burçin Okyar (IAEA)
Presenters: Marta Garcia-Talavera San Miguel (CSN, Spain), Analia Canoba (ARN, Argentina) and David Okoh Kpeglo (GAEC, Ghana)
Organized jointly with the African ALARA Network (AFAN) and Ghana Association for Radiation Protection (GARP)
About the webinar
Applying optimization and a graded approach to industrial processes involving naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is crucial for ensuring radiation safety, efficiency and regulatory compliance. There are some common steps and considerations for their proper implementation in compliance with the relevant IAEA Safety Standards as well as with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Optimization requires unique approaches and strategies that aim to improve assessment and monitoring, work processes, availability of technology and equipment, and training and education of workers and professionals. It can involve lean manufacturing, process automation and energy optimization, and should be supportive to relevant safety and risk management techniques.
The application of the graded approach, one of the key concepts of the International Basic Safety Standards (No. GSR Part 3), comprises risk assessment, regulatory compliance, safety measures, recording, and reporting and continuous improvements (positive feedback loop). It is the driver for risk-based maintenance, process simulation and modelling, resource optimization.
By combining optimization and a graded approach, IAEA member countries effectively manage NORM in industrial processes. This webinar will introduce a collection of case studies from Spain and Argentina, highlighting characteristics of their region.
This webinar will also provide information on the 11th NORM XI Symposium, which is based on the relevant theme of ‘Broadening Optimization in Industrial Processes Involving NORM: A Focus on Sustainability in Extractive Industries’. The event is intended for operators of industrial processes involving NORM, technical service providers, radiation protection professionals including researchers and regulators.
Learning objectives
- To enhance understanding of the industrial processes involving NORM and the application of optimization and the graded approach specific to these processes;
- To learn about the regional perspectives on effective radiation protection, based on the latest scientific evidence and social considerations, with a focus on NORM;
- To understand the challenges in implementing optimization and a graded approach in industrial processes involving NORM;
- To be informed about the Eleventh International Symposium on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM XI), 13 - 17 October 2025 in Accra, Ghana.
About the presenters
Marta García-Talavera is the Chair of the Steering Committee of the NORM XI Symposium, Head of the Natural Radiation Section at the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Chair of the NORM Project of the IAEA Environment Network and former Chair of the HERCA Heads of Radiation Protection Authorities Working Group on Natural Radiation. Marta also serves on the Spanish Radon Action Plan Committee and has been the lead author of several CSN Regulatory Guides on the control of NORM and radon exposure. She holds a PhD in physics.
Analia Canoba is a biochemist with an IAEA supported postgraduate degree in radiological protection and nuclear safety from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Buenos Aires, 1993. She is a senior radiological specialist in the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) of Argentina with 30 years of experience. She has held various positions, including as the Head of Radiological Protection Measurements and Evaluations for 10 years and vice president of ARN. Analia's areas of expertise are radon and NORM, radiochemical measurements and radiological environmental impact assessment. She has been a member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection Committee 4 since 2013, of the International Radiation Protection Association Task Group on ‘Industries impacted by NORM’ since 2018, and of the IAEA Radiation Safety Standards Committee as a representative for Argentina since 2021. She is also the leader of the NORM project of the Ibero American Nuclear and Radiological Regulators (FORO) about characterization.
David Okoh Kpeglo has a PhD and is a researcher at the Radiation Protection Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and a lecturer at the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, with more than 15 years of experience in the fields of environmental radioactivity and radiation protection. He is a co-author of several papers in peer reviewed journals. David is currently the national scientific secretary for the NORM XI symposium.