A regional workshop on the employment and training strategy for radiation regulatory authorities, organised by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), began here yesterday.
In his address at the opening session of the workshop, Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and Qatar’s National Focal Point with the IAEA Ahmed Mohamed al-Sada praised the Agency’s active role and its continuous effort in enhancing security and radiological and nuclear safety and in promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The aim of this workshop is to provide practical guidance to officials on the development of the employment and training strategy. It also seeks to provide practical guidance and recommendations to the regulatory bodies on their structure and management and training and qualify their staff to support them in discharging their responsibilities and functions in an independent and effective manner besides taking into account the need for a phased approach according to the national circumstances and the radiation risks associated with the facilities and activities in the State, al-Sada said.
Safety expert at the IAEA Dr Ibrahim Abdelrahim Shaddad said at the opening session that the workshop aims at enhancing the member-states regulatory bodies’ understanding of how to organise their work and providing them with competent qualified personnel to carry out their supervisory functions efficiently and effectively, as well as providing guidance on how to develop and implement an integrated management system for core operations that help the regulatory body in performing its functions, as well as for the management and support operations required for the operation of the system and the development of programmes to train and qualify employees.
On the sidelines of the opening session, Dr Shaddad told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that Qatar attaches great importance to the proper use of radiological energy, noting the close and important co-operation between Qatar and the IAEA in several projects dealing with radiation safety, environment, agriculture and others for human and animal protection.
He added that those who worked in this field in the country and other participants from Asian countries will benefit greatly from the outputs of this activity by training and qualifying them to promote work in the field of radiation protection, raise the efficiency of the regulatory bodies for radiation work and to ensure the safety of radiological uses completely.
Director of the Radiation and Chemicals Protection Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Aisha Ahmed al-Baker, said that the ministry is responsible for monitoring the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Qatar.
She noted that the main responsibilities of the department are to supervise all radiological practices in the country across all sectors – industrial, medical, research and security, and ensure the application of the best international standards for security and radiation safety, supervise the circulation of radioactive sources and workers and regulate the circulation at all stages from their entry into the state, transfer, storage, use and disposal by re-exporting them to the home country to protect the humans and the environment from their harmful effects without hindering their beneficial and safe use.
During the opening session, al-Baker added that the department is endeavouring to promote a culture of radiation and nuclear safety and security and to monitor the peaceful uses of nuclear energy through a series of national and regional projects and plans with the participation of national stakeholders and in co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as well as international co-operation with relevant organisations, with a view to building capacity, training human cadres, providing equipment and devices, establishing laws, regulations and instructions, setting procedures, standards and guidelines.
She explained that in order to achieve all this, the Department depends on the fulfilment of its responsibilities to a large extent. She noted that the Department conducts periodic and sudden inspection of facilities operating in the field of radiation through field visits to facilities which contain radioactive sources, whether radioactive or radiation-emitting devices, to ensure compliance with their security and safety standards.
In order to achieve all this, she said that the department depends on the fulfilment of its responsibilities, pointing out that the department conducts periodic and sudden inspection of facilities operating in the field of radiation to ensure their compliance with their security and safety standards.
She also addressed the role of the radiological laboratory in providing monitoring data in the Qatari environment, including plant, soil and water, and measuring the radiation levels of some imported industrial materials in order to support environmental authorities and enforce radiation laws, as well as controlling doses of radiation in workers to ensure that they are not exposed to radiation that exceeds the limit for their own safety.
Al-Baker emphasised the importance of this workshop in developing programmes to train and qualify the participants and establishing an integrated administrative system to enable the concerned parties to perform their responsibilities more efficiently and effectively.
A total of 40 trainees from Asian and Pacific member-countries, as well as radiation protection department staff from the ministry of municipality and environment, are participating in the workshop which will be conducted by IAEA’s experts.
Related Story