Senior-level managers from 24 African Member States met at IAEA Headquarters in Vienna from 27 to 31 August 2018 to participate in an intensive training course which demonstrated how nuclear regulatory bodies should establish, implement and improve their Integrated Management System (IMS). Part of an ongoing regional technical cooperation (TC) project1, the course provided professionals involved in their country’s regulatory bodies with the opportunity to explore and broaden their management knowledge regarding nuclear safety.
Integrated Management Systems ensure that nuclear safety is never dealt with in isolation, and instead takes matters related to health, quality assurance and environmental issues into consideration. By supporting both national regulatory bodies and their implementation of such systems, this TC project will help ensure that nuclear applications in the region are characterized by safety and quality, above all.
The TC project is addressing skills and knowledge gaps within these national regulatory bodies through capacity building, enabling them to fully take advantage of nuclear science and technology for sustainable socioeconomic development. The training course consisted of lectures and working group sessions to promote effective leadership and management for nuclear safety.
“The principal issue, when joining the IAEA, is to have in place a safety infrastructure, governed by robust nuclear legislation, which provides protection for the people, workers, patients and the environment. The emphasis is, and always will be, on safety as we promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology,” said Shaukat Abdulrazak, Director of the Division for Africa in the IAEA's Department of Technical Cooperation.
All dimensions of Integrated Management Systems were explored and discussed during the course, including IAEA requirements, standards, development, implementation and self-assessment. By the conclusion of the training course, participants had developed a draft plan to establish or revise the IMS in their organization and had presented it for peer review.
“The project represents a crucial step on the path toward stronger, more authoritative regulatory frameworks in Africa—by adopting management systems, Member States can create a sustainable safety culture for future generations and for the environment”, Mr Abdulrazak said.
1 RAF9061, ‘Enhancing the Capacities of National Regulatory Bodies for Safety in AFRA Member States'