The International Atomic Energy Agency (the Agency) is authorized, by its statute, to establish or adopt safety standards for the protectionof health and minimization of danger to life and property, and to provide for their application to its own operations as well as to operationsunder its control or supervision. The Agency has been assisting, since the mid 1960’s, its Member States through mainly its TechnicalCooperation Programme (TCP) to improve their national radiation safety infrastructures. However up to the early nineties, assistance wasspecific and mostly ad hoc and did not systematically utilize an integrated and harmonized approach to achieving effective and sustainablenational radiation safety infrastructures in Member States.An unprecedented and integrated international cooperative effort was launched by the Agency in 1994 to establish and/or upgrade thenational radiation safety infrastructure in more than 90 countries within the framework of its TCP through the so-called Model Project onUpgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure. In this project proactive co-operation with Member States was used in striving towardsachieving an effective and sustainable radiation safety infrastructure, compatible with the International Basic Safety Standards for Protectionagainst Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources1 (the BSS) and related standards. Extension to include compatibility withthe guidance of the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources~2 occurred towards the end of the Model Project inDecember 2004, and with the more recent ensuing follow up projects that started in 2005.The Model Project started with 5 countries in 1994 and finished with 91 countries in 2004. Up to the end of 2007 more than one hundredMember States had been participating in follow up projects covering six themes - namely: legislative and regulatory infrastructure;occupational radiation protection; radiation protection in medical exposures; radiation protection of the public; emergency preparedness andresponse; and education and training. Each of the participating countries had its specific Radiation and Waste Safety Infrastructure Profile(RaWaSIP) describing the status of its safety infrastructure measured against key requirements of the international standards; and detailedAction Plans to rectify identified safety gaps and to monitor progress achieved. In addition, a methodology to assess the effectiveness of theradiation safety infrastructure (Radiation Safety and Security Infrastructure Appraisal service, RaSSIA) was established and used.The paper describes the vision and strategy of the Model Project and its follow up projects, and the impressive results and outcomes so farachieved. The results show that there was more progress achieved, in establishing sustainable national radiation safety infrastructures,during the 12-14 years of the implementation of the Model Project and its follow up projects than in the previous nearly 40 years ofassistance provided by the Agency.
展开▼
