This month, the IAEA held a workshop to design two regional projects on radiation safety in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on a radiation safety assessment of the region and the regional priorities defined for the 2018-2019 technical cooperation programme cycle. The workshop, which took place in Vienna, Austria, from 16 to 20 January 2017, brought together 12 experts from the region with expertise in radiation protection and nuclear safety, as well as IAEA officers and the Ibero-American Forum of Radiological and Nuclear Regulatory Agencies (FORO).
During the workshop, the participants reviewed and completed the designs for two proposed regional technical cooperation (TC) projects, working with the Department of Technical Cooperation and the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security in preparation for a high quality 2018–2019 technical cooperation programme. One project design is aimed at strengthening regulatory and radiation safety infrastructure in the region, while the other aims to strengthen the capabilities of end-users and technical support organizations in radiation protection requirements and emergency preparedness and response.
Mr. Luis Longoria, Director of the Division for Latin America and the Caribbean, Department of Technical Cooperation, noted that these project designs aim to complement and support a further 18 national safety projects proposed by the Member States from the Latin America and Caribbean region for the next TC programme cycle.
Mr. Andrew Orrell, Section Head of the IAEA’s Waste and Environmental Safety Section, welcomed the opportunity that the new approach brings for closer and more thorough coordination between the different thematic safety areas.
Ms. Elena Buglova, Head of the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre, also spoke at the opening session of the workshop. She highlighted the importance of the proposed projects for enhancing the emergency preparedness and response in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Both the regional and the national projects that are proposed for the 2018–2019 TC cycle will address all seven thematic safety areas. These include: TSA 1: Regulatory Framework, TSA 2: Occupational Radiation Protection, TSA 3: Patient Radiation Protection, TSA 4: Public Radiation Protection, TSA 5: Emergency Preparedness and Response, TSA 6: Education and Training, and TSA7: Transport Safety.
Work on the design of the projects will continue until mid-2017. Following finalisation the projects will be submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors for review and approval in November 2017.