The regional workshop on the Improvement of Compliance Assurance Regime for Transport Safety of Radioactive Material took place in Vienna, Austria, from 3-7 November 2014. Altogether, 25 participants from 16 Member States in the Asia and the Pacific region attended the workshop. The participants were from the following Member States: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan,.Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, territories under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Yemen.
The workshop, 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 of Radioactive Material'.
The purpose of the workshop was to address gaps in the regulatory infrastructure of the participating countries for transport identified in an earlier meeting/workshop on strengthening the effectiveness of compliance assurance regime for transport safety of radioactive material. Gaps in the effectiveness of compliance assurance regime have been identified through the analysis of responses to the questionnaires generated by the IAEA Self-assessment of Regulatory Infrastructure for Safety (SARIS) tool and with regard to the key elements identified in Thematic Safety Area 7 (TSA7) - Transport Safety of the IAEA Radiation Safety Information Management System (RASIMS).
Transport experts from India and the United States of America assisted with the workshop. The workshop included a technical tour of the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre and a practical demonstration by the IAEA Office of Safeguards Analytical Services on the preparation of packages for shipment (see photo below). Through presentations, practical group exercises and discussions, the participants knowledge was increased in building regulatory infrastructure for transport safety, emergency preparedness and response, and contributed to the development of a regional network for transport of radioactive material. Other notable outcomes were updates made on SARIS responses and national action plans of participating countries; revision/update of regional action plan to include achievements (gaps/needs that have been addressed), and resources in terms of expertise of participating countries added in the pool of excellence to support in addressing gaps/needs of prioritized elements of compliance assurance regime for transport safety in the region.
The working documents and outcomes of the workshop can be found on the SharePoint site for the Asia Pacific Transport Network.
RAS/9/067 is one of the five safety-related regional TC projects among other IAEA technical cooperation activities supported by the EU through the Nuclear Safety Cooperation Instrument (NSCI) as part of a larger EU initiative to enhance nuclear safety around the world.
| Project RAS/9/067 is carried out with funding by the European Union and the IAEA. |
