SURVEY OF LOST AND POORLY CONTROLLED RADIOACTIVE SOURCES IN NON-MEDICAL APPLICATIONS IN IRAN

摘要

Despite the existence of well developed regulatory authority systems for radiationrnprotection, there are some concerns about lost and poorly controlled radioactivernsources owing to the large number and the wide distribution of the users of radioactivernsources. The survey presented covers the current situation of radioactive sources ofrnCategories 3–5 (based on the IAEA categorization) in non-medical applications in thernIslamic Republic of Iran. The investigation was performed on a selected group of nonmedicalrnusers of radioactive sources in different provinces of Iran. The findings showrnthat unauthorized supply and the existence of legacy sources, in addition to the abandonmentrnof sources under regulatory control, are the main reasons for lost sources.rnConsidering the possibility of increasing numbers of poorly controlled sources, whichrncan lead to an increasing number of lost sources, further development is needed ofrnnational regulatory control as well as of international cooperation and discipline in thisrnregard.