The above meeting organised by the IAEA in cooperation with the Government of Jordan, through the Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission (JNRC), took place in Amman, Jordan, from 7-11 June 2015. Altogether, 15 participants from the TC region of Asia and the Pacific took part in the meeting. The participants were from the following Member States: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. One external expert and a consultant supported the meeting on behalf of the IAEA.
The purpose of the meeting was to assess progress of the participating countries in establishing and maintaining an effective regulatory infrastructure and compliance assurance regime for transport safety of radioactive material through peer review of national self-assessments made using Self-Assessment of Regulatory Infrastructure for Safety (SARIS), a specialised IAEA tool, and to establish on-going use of network for mutual support.
This was the first of a series of two peer review meetings focusing on a sub-region located west of India. The approach of going sub-regional was conducive to positive results allowing better communication among mostly Arab speaking countries and closer interaction within a smaller group of participants and with the IAEA experts. The participants expressed their opinions with more clarity and freely using their own language, and they came up readily with common recommendations as an outcome of the SARIS peer reviews. Palestine and Bahrain participants augmented the presentation on emergency preparedness and response by sharing their respective emergency arrangements and experiences. A technical visit to JNRC's Central Storage Facility very well complemented the meeting agenda with the practical aspects of transport safety.
The following meeting outcomes were produced:
- Country status and progress report on country-specific action plans;
- Identification of gaps addressed and prioritization of remaining regional and national needs;
- A summary report of the peer review of national self-assessments of participating countries and consolidated recommendations; and
- A mechanism for an on-going use of network was established; Bahrain was identified to lead the sub-network and the other participants were committed to serve as national contact points to sustain mutual support.
The meeting, supported by funds provided by the European Union (EU), was held within the framework of the IAEA's regional technical cooperation (TC) project RAS/9/067 'Strengthening an Effective Compliance Assurance Regime for the Transport Safety of Radioactive Material'.
The second peer review meeting of national self-assessments of compliance assurance regime for transport safety will see the Southeast Asian and Pacific Member States and will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 21-25 September 2015.
