Senior Regulators' Meeting, 2013, VIC, Vienna, Austria.
Establishing and Strengthening the Regulatory
Infrastructure in States without Nuclear Power Plants:
the Constraint of Limited Resources .
Augustin SIMO
Director General
National Radiation Protection Agency of Cameroon
and
Chairperson,
Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA)
SCOPE
• Applications of Radiation Sources
• Challenges
• Strategies
• Progressive Results
Applications Involving Radiation Sources in Africa
Industrial radiography
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Medical Applications
Industrial Applications
Research Reactors Operation – 9
Nuclear Power Generation -1
new interests for NPP
Decision-makers need to be patiently sensitized
about the need for radiation safety infrastructure
which is wrongly perceived as less interesting for
the majority of population.
Diagnosis Radiology
Specific Challenges for Regulatory Systems
- legislation;
- operational regulatory body;
- staffing of Regulatory Body;
- financing Regulatory Body activities;
- physical infrastructure;
- sustainability of Regulatory Body.
FNRBA is an approach/opportunity to overcome
these challenges towards establishing sustainable
regulatory infrastructure in Africa.
Implementation of IAEA Model Project on
Upgrading Radiation Protection
Infrastructure
IAEA Model Project on Upgrading Radiation
Protection Infrastructure to properly control the
radiation sources, was launched in 1996, as well as
BSS 115 for Protection against Ionizing Radiation
sources in all activities involving radiation exposure
with series steps or milestones towards their
accomplishment defined as follows:
1. Establishment of a Regulatory Infrastructure
2. Occupational Exposure Control
3. Medical Exposure Control
4. Public and Environmental Exposure Control
5. Emergency Preparedness and Response
6. Education and Training
7. Transport Safety..
Results - Implementation of IAEA Model
Project on Upgrading Radiation Protection
Infrastructure
Model project main achievements:
•Establishment in several countries of appropriate laws and
regulations and regulatory authorities empowered to authorize and
control practices involving radiation sources;
•Promotion of common understanding with regard to the need for
sound radiation safety frameworks and strong regulatory
authorities
Established Regulatory Bodies in FNRBA MS
30
Nb laws
Number
25
Nb RBs
20
15
10
Delta RB
Total Laws
5
Total RBs
0
1971
1982
1993
1996
1998
2001
Year
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
FNRBA STRATEGY
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Self assessment of regulatory infrastructure in MRBs
Electronic communication platform to build a network
for exchange of knowledge – web based
communications and exchange of information
Creation of opportunities for face-to-face platforms for
exchange of experiences and best practices
Establishment of collaborative agreements with
regional and international bodies; networking bodies;
professional bodies that promote similar objectives
FNRBA – PROGRESS 1/3
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FNRBA Website Launched – www.fnrba.org designed by
IAEA GNSSN
IT experts from
Africa associated to the website
maintenance
FNRBA – PROGRESS 2/3
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Training and Cooperation with KINS
Operational
Regional
Designated
Centres
for
professional training in radiation safety selected through
AFRA modalities in few countries used to support
sustainability staff training in the region
Two workshops implemented in 2012 in collaboration
with the Korean Institute of Nuclear Science (KINS).
IAEA-KINS-FNRBA-ANNuR WS at KINS
IAEA-KINS-FNRBA WS in Cape Town
FNRBA – PROGRESS 3/3
Implementation of Self-Assessment
of Regulatory Infrastructure for
Safety (SARIS).
• FNRBA encourages the implementation of IAEA -SARIS
by all members with the view to identify their
weaknesses, to design and implement the appropriate
action plan for their improvement in order to harmonize
the regulatory body activities in Africa and to improve
the status of the regulatory infrastructure in the region.
Members are encouraged to present their status SARIS
report in every plenary.
RASIMS Status of 2013.
The electronic platform, RASIMS, developed by the
IAEA, provided the status of the regulatory bodies in
Africa as of 2009 and April 2013 in Thematic Safety
Areas. TSA1 deals with Establishment of a Regulatory
Infrastructure.
TSA 1 Status of FNRBA Member States
2009 - April 2013
2009
April 2013
44% low Progress
22% low Progress
50% Medium Progress
65% Medium Progress
6% High Progress
13% High Progress
There is a slight improvement from 2009 and as far as TSA 1 is
concerned; the remaining TSAs constitute challenges for the
whole region and lot is yet to be done to ameliorate their levels.
PANEL DISCUSSION ON
Effective Mechanisms for Supporting a
Regulatory Infrastructure
SCOPE
1. Aims of Support
2. Support Mechanisms
• National Initiatives
• Regional and Sub-regional Initiatives
• Implementation of International
Instruments
• International Review Missions
Aims of Support
Support of established regulatory infrastructures activities
shall be to:
•implement the regulatory function with required
competencies to ensure safe use of radiation in all
socioeconomic development sectors;
•develop graded approach of regulatory activities to match
the efforts to reduce risks with the existing nuclear and
radiation technologies (legislation and regulations,
qualification of staff, specialized training facilities,
sustainable human resource development);
• participate in the global threat reduction.
National Initiatives
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Support the self-assessment exercise and
the implementation of the derived action
plan proposed for improvement
1) IAEA to continuously review the tool and
promote its utilisation
2)
Government to provide means for
improvement of Regulatory infrastructure,
including promulgation of new laws and
regulations, and adequate financial support
3) National Regulatory Body commitment to
implement self-assessment and derived action
plan
National Initiatives (Cont.)
Continuous improvement of staff skills
•Development and implementation of
Regulatory body training strategy and
programme.
•Support the implementation of these at:
national level using academic training
infrastructure and
regional level using cooperation
mechanisms: IAEA, Regulatory Bodies
Network, etc.
Regional and Sub-regional
Initiatives
 Support to regional cooperation
among Regulatory Bodies
- Sharing good practices,
knowledge and expertise
- Networking
Implementation of International
Instruments
 Support to the development of
comprehensive approach to
implement in all countries:
- IAEA Code of Conduct and
Guidance for import and export of
radioactive sources
- Convention on the security of
radioactive sources
- Convention against nuclear
terrorism
International Review Missions
Encourage use of :
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Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS)
Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plan
(INSSP)
and support the implementation of
recommendations
Conclusion
The process of establishing regulatory bodies for
radiation safety in African countries without nuclear
power plants encounters numerous challenges
focussed on legislation and regulations, qualification
of staff, funding, equipment, sustainability, etc.
Regional and international cooperation is seen as
appropriate mechanism to alleviate the common
constraints. FNRBA and IAEA joint assistance and
activities in the region need to be supported by the
international community to help the continent to
improve its radiation safety and security profile in a
sustainable manner.
5th Plenary Meeting of FNRBA 21-23 May
2013 Tunis, Tunisia.
THANK
YOU