New radiation control body in final stages |15 February 2010

This follows a one-week workshop which closed on Friday after finalising the role of the regulatory body, to be known as the Radiation Protection Authority.

Among its functions, it will develop national policies, issue rules and regulations, offer guidance and enforce general standards on radiation and its related aspects.
 
It will also enforce standards for public safety and security, and protection of the environment from the potential adverse effects of ionising radiation. And it will define, where necessary, exemptions from regulatory control.

A national register will be drawn up of all radiation sources including sunlamps, medical and baggage X-ray machines, mammogram scanners, radiotherapy equipment and machinery in other fields like construction to ensure they operate within the norms set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Licences granted to operate such equipment will be monitored.

Steps will also be taken to ensure that people who work with radiation-emitting equipment or who are exposed to radiation take regular medical tests.

A separate board of five to seven members has also been suggested, to advise the government on issues concerning radiation.

The workshop to establish all these points was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mont Fleuri, and sponsored by the IAEA. It was led by Atnatiwos Zeleke Meshesha, the director for regulatory control in the Ethiopian Radiation Protection Authority.

Keven Aglae, director of the IAEA Unit in the Ministry of Employment and Human Resources Development, said that when all the draft proposals have become law during the first quarter of this year, the atomic energy agency will provide certain equipment and training.

This will include radiation-measuring equipment such as survey meters and transport for use in making inspections.
At the moment, all the IAEA’s activities fall under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ umbrella, but the new radiation authority will be part of the employment ministry.

Mr Aglae explained that the regulatory body will work in collaboration with several partners, such as the Department of Environment, the Ministry of Health and the Seychelles Bureau of Standards.