From January 29 – February 2, 2018, a one-week workshop was conducted in Lusaka, Zambia on Design and Shielding Calculation in Medical Radiological Facilities. This is a part of the ongoing RSRP collaboration with the Radiation Protection Authority (RPA) designed to strengthen Radiation Protection program Zambia. Discussions included several medical imaging and therapeutic modalities for purposes of shielding calculations and design optimization, with a special focus on the Radiation Therapy Practice. NCRP145, NCRP147 and NCRP151 served as baseline guidance, recommendations and technical...
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January 23-25, 2018 - Peter Kelm of AdSTM visited Yerevan, Armenia to meet with Ashot Martirosyan, Chairman of the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ANRA), and with Armen Amirjanyan, the Director of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center (NRSC) and his staff.
Mr. Martirosyan highlighted his appreciation for the continuing US NRC support to ANRA, discussed ongoing activities and recent developments in Armenia. In November 2017 Armenia signed Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union and will harmonize its legislation consistent with the EU...
From January 22 to January 26, 2018, a consultation under the RSRP was conducted at the Ministry of Health in Panama City, Panama. Dr. Charles Miller, Dr. Mario Rodriguez and Ms. Diana Thompson provided information and guidance to the Panamanian Regulatory Authority (RA) with the objective of strengthening their regulation of medical facilities conducting treatments of patients through the use of a LINAC or HDR brachytherapy. The consultation was a component of the action plan for Panama that is included in the RSRP Master Plan for Latin American partners. The topics covered included:...
A new group of Panamanian students successfully completed the 2016-2017 academic program and received Master Degree in Radiation Protection from the Universidad Especializada de las Americas (UDELAS) on January 19, 2018. This program covered theory and practical training where the students apply the newly acquired knowledge in Radiation Protection. The graduation ceremony was attended by senior university authorities, Panamanian Ministry of Health and AdSTM representatives. This Master Degree program has aims to supply Panama with much needed Radiation Protection Officers. The program is...
On December 4 and 5, 2017, John Kinneman of AdSTM, Inc. conducted a program assessment at the Radiation, Safety and Nuclear Security Authority (ARSN) of The Republique de Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The assessment included meetings with the Director General, the Deputy Director General, other managers and the technical staff of ARSN, an overview of the National laws and regulatory structure, the history of regulation in the country and discussion of the uses of sources of ionizing radiation in the country. In addition, there were visits to two authorized facilities...
From November 29 to December 1, 2017, John Kinneman of AdSTM, Inc. conducted an RSRP program assessment at the National Radiation Protection Board, Ministry of Health, Republic of Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya. The assessment included meetings with the Acting Chief Executive Officer, other managers and the technical staff of the Radiation Protection Board, an overview of the National laws and regulatory structure and discussion of the uses of sources of ionizing radiation in the country. There is a clear history of expanding focus on radiation safety in Kenya, based in the Ministry of Health....
On November 27, 2017, John Kinneman of AdSTM, Inc visited the Chadian Agency for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (ATRSN) in N’djamena, Chad to discuss how RSRP can further support the achievement of the plans and objectives of ATRSN. Following a visit by RSRP in February of 2015, ARIS was installed at ATRSN and a national inventory of sources of ionizing radiation was completed. During the current visit, Deputy Director General and the staff of ATRSN discussed their experiences during the inventory process and with the RASOD module of ARIS. In addition, the management and staff...
Peter Kelm of AdSTM visited Moldova during November 13-15, 2017 to discuss the ongoing and potential RSRP collaboration projects with representatives of NARNRA, the Moldovan National Agency for Regulation and Radiological ActivitiesThe meeting addressed the successful update and/or development of 15 regulations.The meeting reviewed and updated Action Plan activities for 2018/19. It contains NARNRA requests for a server to support ARIS application, for transportation to support inspection activities and assistance in development of a National Emergency Response Plan (NERP). NERP development is...
From November 6-10, 2017, RSRP attended the kick-off meeting for the IAEA Radiation Sources Regulatory Infrastructure Development Project (RIDP) for select countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective of the project is assist member states in strengthening regulatory infrastructure. The meeting which took place in in Montevideo, Uruguay, reviewed the status of the countries' regulatory programs, discussed gaps and identified RIDP assistance activities for improvement. These activities generally fall into training activities and equipment purchase.
Mario Rodriguez and...
From September 25-29, 2017, Rick Muñoz of AdSTM participated in a RSRP Mission to Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines (MIEM), to provide technical support and training for the evaluation of the operational license application. The operational license authorized the use of a GE PET-Trace Model-800, 16 MeV unshielded cyclotron. The cyclotron was dedicated for F-18, C-11 Ga-68 and N-13 production for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies on human medical diagnosis and small animal research. The AdSTM representative provided training on licensing review and inspection protocols...