Safety of Radiation Sources and Security of Radioactive Materials
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Safety of Radiation Sources and Security of Radioactive Materials PROCEEDINGS OF A CONFERENCE, 'DIJON, FRANCE, 14-18 SEPTEMBER 1998 JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY THE IAEA, THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, INTERPOL AND THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION SAFETY OF RADIATION SOURCES AND SECURITY OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS © IAEA, 1999 Permission to reproduce or translate the information contained in this publication may be obtained by writing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Printed by the IAEA in Austria June 1999 PROCEEDINGS SERIES SAFETY OF RADIATION SOURCES AND SECURITY OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS PROCEEDINGS OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SAFETY OF RADIATION SOURCES AND THE SECURITY OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION-INTERPOL AND THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATON, AND HELD IN DIJON, FRANCE, 14-18 SEPTEMBER 1998 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 1999 EDITORIAL NOTE The Proceedings have been edited by the editorial staff of the IAEA to the extent considered necessary for the reader's assistance. The views expressed remain, however, the responsibility of the named authors or participants. In addition, the views are not necessarily those of the governments of the nominating Member States or of the nominating organizations. Although great care has been taken to maintain the accuracy of information contained in this publication, neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from its use. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights. Material prepared by authors who are in contractual relation with governments is copyrighted by the IAEA, as publisher, only to the extent permitted by the appropriate national regulations. VIG Library Cataloguing in Publication Data International Conference on the Safety of Radiation Sources and the Security of Radioactive Materials (1998 : Dijon, France). Safety of radiation sources and security of radioactive materials, proceedings of an International Conference on the Safety of Radiation Sources and the Security of Radioactive Materials / jointly organized by the European Commission ... [et al.] and held in Dijon, France, 14-18 September 1998. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 1999. p. ; 24 cm. — (Proceedings series, ISSN 0074-1884) STI/PUB/1042 ISBN 92-0-101499-6 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Radioactive substances—Security measures—Congresses. 2. Radiation—Safety measures—Congresses. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. European Commission. III. Title. IV. Series: Proceedings series (International Atomic Energy Agency). VICL 99-00222 FOREWORD In virtually all countries of the world, use of radiation sources in industry, medicine, research and teaching is widespread and increasing. The safety and security record of these applications is good; however, there have been a number of radio- logical accidents caused by safety failures, some of which have led to serious consequences, including the death of some exposed persons. In addition to the safety related problems, there have been events in which loss of security and control of radioactive materials has had serious, even fatal, consequences. Examples include incidents in which sources used in radiation therapy units have been unintentionally sold as scrap metal, found by unsuspecting individuals or stolen, causing multiple deaths. 'Orphan sources' often ended up in the public domain, in particular in scrap metal, causing a significant risk of contamination and exposure of workers, the public and the environment. Illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials through States and across State borders has become a serious threat from the viewpoint of nuclear proliferation, terrorist potential and radiological hazard. This International Conference, hosted by the Government of France and co-sponsored by the European Commission, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the World Customs Organization (WCO), was the first one devoted to the safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials and — for the first time — brought together radiation safety experts, regulators, and customs and police officers, who need to closely co-operate for solving the problem of illicit trafficking. The technical sessions reviewed the state of the art of twelve major topics, divided into two groups: the safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials. The safety part comprised regulatory control, safety assessment techniques, engineering and managerial measures, lessons from experience, international co- operation through reporting systems and databases, verification of safety through inspection and the use of performance indicators for a regulatory programme. The security part comprised measures to prevent breaches in the security of radioactive materials, detection and identification techniques for illicit trafficking, response to detected cases and seized radioactive materials, strengthening awareness, training and exchange of information. The Conference was a success in fostering information exchange through the reviews of the state of the art and the frank and open discussions. It raised awareness of the need for Member States to ensure effective systems of control and for preventing, detecting and responding to illicit trafficking in radioactive materials. The Conference finished by recommending investigating whether international undertakings concerned with an effective operation of national systems for ensuring the safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials, and attracting broad adherence, can be formulated. These recommendations were essentially adopted as a resolution of the Forty-second General Conference of the IAEA in September 19981. These Proceedings contain the keynote address, the invited papers, summaries of discussions and session summaries, and the remarks presented at the opening of the Conference. The Conference Programme Committee accepted a number of contributed papers for consideration at the Conference, and these were published shortly before the Conference2. Together, these two volumes thus contain the complete record of the Conference. The Joint lAEA/EC/Interpol/WCO Conference Secretariat gratefully acknowledges the support and generous hospitality extended to the participants by the authorities of France, in particular the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). 1 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, The Safety of Radiation Sources and Security of Radioactive Materials, GC(42)/RES/12, IAEA, Vienna (1998). 2 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Safety of Radiation Sources and Security of Radioactive Materials, Contributed Papers, IAEA-TECDOC-1045, IAEA, Vienna (1998); available at no charge from the IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. CONTENTS OPENING SESSION Welcoming Remarks M.F. Ferrier 3 A.J. Gonzalez 5 J. Shaver 9 R.E. Kendall 11 K.E. Schnuer 13 J. Bouchard 15 THE PROBLEM (Briefing Session 1) Keynote Address The size of the problem (IAEA-CN-70/K1) 19 G.J. Dicus Oral Presentations Summary of major accidents with radiation sources and lessons learned (IAEA-CN-70/BU) 27 J.R. Croft Main issues in the Acerinox event (IAEA-CN-70/B1.2) 45 J.A. Azuara RESPONSE FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (Briefing Session 2) International standards on the safety of radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials (IAEA-CN-70/B2.1) 55 A.J. Gonzalez The IAEA Technical Co-operation Model Project on Upgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure (IAEA-CN-70/B2.2) 61 J. Qian Measures to prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials: The IAEA Security of Material Programme (IAEA-CN-70/B2.3) .. 71 A. Nilsson The IAEA draft Security Guide — Preventing, Detecting and Responding to Illicit Trafficking in Radioactive Materials (IAEA-CN-70/B2.4) 77 K.E. Duftschmid The role of customs services and the World Customs Organization Enforcement Programme to combat nuclear and other radioactive materials smuggling (IAEA-CN-70/B2.5) 87 E. Saka Present activities within ICPO-Interpol to combat illegal traffic in radioactive materials (IAEA-CN-70/B2.6) 101 / Ekdahl Present activities of the European Commission in the field of safety of radiation sources and security of radioactive material (IAEA-CN-70/B2.7) ... 109 K.E. Schnuer THE REGULATORY CONTROL OF RADIATION SOURCES, INCLUDING SYSTEMS FOR NOTIFICATION, AUTHORIZATION (REGISTRATION AND LICENSING) AND INSPECTION (Technical Session 1) The regulatory control of radiation sources, including systems for notification, authorization (registration and licensing) and inspection (IAEA-CN-70/R1) .. 125 G. Weimer Summary of Discussion 135 SAFETY ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO RADIATION SOURCES: