On May 13, 2019, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) Radiation Sources Regulatory Partnership (RSRP) visited Lusaka, Zambia. Eric Stahl of USNRC and John Kinneman of AdSTM met with senior officials from the Radiation Protection Authority to discuss Zambia’s national inventory of radiation sources, which was completed in 2018 with U.S. government support via the RSRP. In addition, both organizations discussed future collaboration, including various training activities and assistance with the development of Zambia’s nuclear regulatory and guidance documents.
As in most countries, radiation sources are used for medical and industrial purposes across Zambia. Since 2016, the USNRC has provided Zambia’s Radiation Protection Authority (RPA) with technical and financial support to conduct an inventory of radiation sources and generators in the country. With the USNRC’s support, the RPA technical staff conducted a nationwide search for radioactive material, visiting each facility that possesses (or might possess) a radiation source (such as an x-ray machine or radioactive material), gathered information about the source, and entered the information into a national registry. The national registry helps RPA manage Zambia’s regulatory program for the safety of the users of the sources and the public.