RSRP Mission to the CNE In Dominican Republic

March 15th, 2017 — 

From March 6 to 9, 2017, Rick Muñoz of AdSTM participated in a RSRP Mission to the Dominican Republic’s Commission on Nuclear Energy (CNE), to provide technical support for the evaluation of the operational license application of an IBA Cyclone Platform-18, 18 MeV unshielded cyclotron dedicated to FDG production for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies. Being the first unshielded cyclotron in the country, the regulatory authority needed assistance on licensing the construction and operation of this type of technology. The AdSTM representative provided training on licensing and inspection of both self-shielded and unshielded type cyclotrons used for PET radionuclide production. At the time of the site visit, CNE had since issued the construction license as a result from the previous AdSTM visit in June 2016 and was in the process of reviewing the operating license application. AdSTM completed additional training which originally began during the previous visit. In addition to meetings with operational licensee applicant personnel, a site visit and tour of current construction activities of the applicant’s facility was completed. The Dominican Republic has authorized one operating license of a self-shielded cyclotron. The AdSTM representative performed a formal inspection of the operating PET production facility using a 9.8 MeV GE MINItraceTM cyclotron with CNE staff observing the inspection. A formal report was drafted for CNE which included observations, recommendations and areas of improvement relative to the inspection and to enhance the facility’s radiation protection program.