Some fifty participants from Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hospitals, customs and industry have attended a national training course on basic radiation protection and regulation of sources in Georgetown, Guyana. Radiation sources are widely used within the country, so supporting and strengthening Guyana’s national safety infrastructure is of high importance.
The training course took place at the Guyana EPA offices from 16 to 20 April 2018. The course participants included medical physicists and X-ray radiologists, customs staff and personnel from the mining and oil service company and the construction sector.
The participants learned about the use of radiation and radionuclides in industry, medicine, agriculture, environmental monitoring, science research and education. The training was tailored to meet the specific needs of Guyana. It covered different aspects of radiation protection, the International Standards for Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources, regulatory requirements, as well as the safety and security of sources (including source transportation and radiation detection and measurement). With this training, Guyanese staff working with ionizing radiation are now better equipped to follow radiation protection regulations and guidance to ensure its safe application. Participants were also invited to prepare brief presentations in group settings, about Guyana’s radiation protection status and regulatory needs. A ‘round table’ discussion was held on the last day of the course to examine national needs.
The IAEA will continue to support Guyana in further developing radiation protection and regulations and more training events are planned for the region. The national training course was conducted under IAEA technical cooperation project RLA9082, which aims to establish and strengthen sustainable national regulatory infrastructures in Caribbean Member States for the control of radiation sources.
