From January 20-24, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) attended the launch of the Radioactive Source Regulatory Infrastructure Development Project (RIDP) Part 2 for African countries at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria. Together with Canada and France, the U.S. NRC provides important financial support to this program. The work of the NRC’s Radiation Sources Regulatory Partnership (RSRP) program in Africa was presented to the IAEA and the ten African countries attending the meeting. This presentation generated significant interest for immediate partnership by those countries that do not currently participate in the RSRP. During the meeting, each country’s representative provided a detailed review of the regulatory program. Participants discussed existing regulatory gaps and identified RIDP assistance activities for improvement for each country. The proposed support activities generally include source inventory support and a range of training activities, including development of regulatory documents and guidelines for inspection and authorization of industrial and medical practices.
The U.S. NRC representative held substantive discussions with current RSRP partners and with potential new partner countries on ways to achieve regulatory progress with the support of the RSRP.