IAEA Supports Advances in Regulatory Infrastructure for Radiation Safety in the Caribbean
The use of radiation technologies in Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member countries has become safer and more effective thanks, in part, to a series of projects supported by the IAEA technical cooperation (TC) programme.With IAEA support, 11 of the 13 CARICOM countries have either established a national regulatory body or designated an interim national regulatory body. Jamaica passed its Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Act in 2015, and Belize adopted a similar law in 2020.
An independent regulatory body with well-trained and skilled staff is a cornerstone of an effective regulatory framework for radiation safety.
Nuclear regulatory bodies are responsible for all control activities related to radiation, from implementing systems for notification and authorization, to conducting inspections and enforcing regulatory decisions.
The IAEA provides broad support to countries in the region to ensure that a strong pool of experts is available to join their national regulatory agencies. In addition to Jamaica and Belize, which have both successfully passed laws to regulate nuclear applications and to establish and empower regulatory agencies, five more countries are in the process of drafting or finalizing their nuclear legislation with legal support from the IAEA, through its Legislative Assistance Programme. These countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. With further implementation of the Regional Strategic Framework (RSF) for the Caribbean region, policy-makers, regulators and operators have succeeded in strengthening arrangements for the safe and secure use of nuclear and radiation technologies.A Coaching Programme in Regulatory Infrastructure is being implemented in IAEA-CARICOM Member States, offering tailor-made assistance, based on the Strategic Planning Tool previously used in the region. Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica and Guyana have leveraged support under the programme to accelerate the development of their regulatory infrastructure. Looking ahead, the Coaching Programme will be delivered to the remaining countries in the region, and its scope will be expanded to include individual coaching on the safety of disused radioactive sources.Since 2015, more than 50 regional participants have learned the principles and best practices underpinning effective emergency preparedness and response (EPR) arrangements through several training courses organized by the IAEA, in both virtual and in-person formats, mainly directed at first responders and at officials responsible for the development of National Radiation Emergency Plans.
A tailored version of the IAEA School of Radiation Emergency Management was organized in 2018, in collaboration with Texas A&M, USA, for experts from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago. The objective of the School of Radiation Emergency Management is to build a team of managers capable of developing and managing sustainable emergency preparedness and response (EPR) programs, based on IAEA safety standards, technical guidelines, EPR tools and training materials.Sealed radioactive sources are considered to be ‘orphans’ if ever they are lost, abandoned, misplaced, stolen or transferred without proper authorization. Through a series of regional TC projects, the IAEA has organized a number of regional workshops and national training courses to build capacities in the detection and recovery of orphan sources. To further minimize the risk posed by sources which are lost or stolen, 10 countries and territories—including Curaçao, a constituent country of the Netherlands — succeeded in establishing their first national radiation source registers, with support from the regional project.
Such registers of radiation sources identify which institutions are using radioactive sources, their parameters, corresponding certificates and the required safety measures they have implemented. This process facilitates regulatory efforts to ensure safety in the nuclear sector, and can reduce the possibility of sources being ‘orphaned.’Since 2016, a total of 57 regulators from CARICOM countries have received practical training in radiation safety through various TC projects and 10 regulatory bodies have received portable radiation detection equipment from the Agency. In April 2022, the IAEA launched a Regulatory Infrastructure Development Project (RIDP) focussing on the Caribbean, which aims to establish or enhance regulatory infrastructure.
Through the RIDP, IAEA experts are meeting with national regulators and government officials to assess their needs and to craft individualized, flexible support. Furthermore, the IAEA has worked closely with experts from the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS)—which hosts the Caribbean’s only research reactor, the Slowpoke-II—to establish external personal dosimetry services, which now supports the safety of over 2000 occupationally-exposed workers in the regionTo consolidate the progress realized in the last seven years — following IAEA training courses, expert visits and procurements — representatives from 10 regulatory bodies in the Caribbean met in Kingston, Jamaica on 1 July, 2022 to explore strategies to establish or enhance Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSOs) to support inspection, licensing and enforcement activities.
As part of their discussions, the attending regulatory officers identified the general characteristics, organizational aspects and types of services that may be provided by TSOs to support regulatory functions and infrastructure in the Caribbean.Committed to enhancing south-south cooperation, the attending national regulators are now pursuing the establishment of a Regional Technical and Scientific Service Desk, to be staffed by a pool of Caribbean experts capable of providing regulatory assistance in the absence of local expertise.Thirteen Caribbean countries are members of both the IAEA and CARICOM, namely Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
St. Kitts and Nevis is the most recent CARICOM country to accede to the IAEA, joining on 9 February 2022.
