Valentine Marc Nkwame
28 June 2008
Arusha — Arusha recently hosted International Atomic Energy Agency's regional meet for English speaking African countries, where the matter of radioactive material transport was reported to be of great concern.
Experts from around the continent stated that while there have been no serious accidents or harm caused by the transportation of radioactive materials for over 45 years, shipments of such substances continue to face major stumbling blocks.
"Transportation of radioactive materials is governed by national and international regulations based on the IAEA regulations for Safe Transport of such substances and these regulations have continuously been revised and updated by experts from members states," pointed out
Abraham M. Nyanda, the Director General for the Arusha based, Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission during the International Atomic Energy Agency's regional training workshop that was held in Arusha recently.
Held at the News Safari Hotel, the meeting was convened to address the issue on 'Denial of shipment of radioactive materials' the event took place at the New safari Hotel conference hall.
Nyanda said t while the safety and security records are impressive there have been increasing number of denials and delays of shipment of radioactive materials by some shipping companies, air carriers and consignors and port authorities.
These delays, denials and related inconveniences, according to the TAEC director, would usually be experienced even when there was compliance with regulations, where authorities and transporters would impose additional constraints and conditions on shipments and consignments of radioactive materials.
"Denials or delays of transportation of radioactive materials can adversely affect various applications, including medical treatments and diagnoses, construction projects, sterilization of health products, scientific researches and other development activities," said Nyanda.
Natanael de Carvalho Bruno the representative from IAEA said the denials and delays in shipments of radioactive materials for medical use can result in hardships to patients undergoing diagnosis and treatment with radioactive materials and to others who rely on products sterilized by radiation.
IAEA has planned to conduct a number of training workshops world-wide in order to come up with solutions to the problems and raise awareness on the issue. A total of 30 participants from 11 English-speaking African countries attended the three-day Arusha held workshop.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. It was established independently of the United Nations, under its own international treaty (the IAEA Statute), but the IAEA reports to both the General Assembly and the Security Council.
The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Two "Regional Safeguards Offices" are located in Toronto, Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. The IAEA has two liaison offices, located in New York, USA; and Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, it has laboratories in Seibersdorf and Vienna, Austria; Monaco; and Trieste, Italy.
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