preparatory commission for the distr. for …
TRANSCRIPT
XQ9900024
PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY ORGANIZATION
Distr. FOR PARTICIPANTS ONLY CTBT/WS/LEGREL/IC-2/CRP. 10 1 June 1999
ENGLISH ONLY
Cairo, 1-3 June 1999
The National Radiation Protection Authority and its regulatory programme Potential benefits of the CTBT and thoughts on cooperation G. GebeyehuNational Radiation Protection Authority, Ethiopia
INTRODUCTION
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia based on its strong policy on disarmament and non
proliferation of weapon of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapon considers CTBT as one
of the measures towards the safe world and secured future and free from nuclear weapon in the
21st century. The full implementation of this treaty increases the international security as well as
the national security of every state signatory and the world peaceful environment. Besides
addressing these prime objectives of the treaty the verification regime of CTBT also has many
scientific, technological and economic benefits. In the past years Ethiopia became an active
participant in the scientific and political developments as well as supporter of the CTBT.
As cooperation is the main theme of this Regional Workshop, awareness about the participant
institutions becomes vital. This paper has two main parts. The first part describes the designated
institution for the CTBT implementation in the area of Radionuclides in Ethiopia and its scientific
and regulatory programme as well as the main activities in Ethiopia employing techniques.
The second part of the paper account for the links between the objectives of the national institute
with the CTBT. It also further draws substantive details about the benefit’s that could accrue from
participating in CTBT implementation and summarizes the discussion by suggesting modalities
for building partnership and cooperation.
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PARTI
THE NATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION AUTHORITY AND ITS REGULATORY PROGRAMME1. Summary of Radiation Protection Activities in Ethiopia
1.1. Historical Background
The practice of radiation protection in the Federal Republic of Ethiopia dates back over 15 years.
Radiation Protection Service was initiated as a result of the introduction of irradiation techniques
for Biological researches at the University of Addis Adeba. The importance was soon felt and the
service was extended to the users of ionising radiation, mostly for radiation workers in X-ray
Departments of Hospitals in the country. This was possible with inputs from the Ministry of
Health and international bodies, mainly the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and
World Health Organization (WHO).
1.2. Present Status
After rendering radiation protection services under the University for several years the Unit was
transferred to a new administration to become, independent regulatory body the National
Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), within in the Ethiopian Science and Technology
Commission (ESTC).
This was as a result of the promulgation of the radiation protection proclamation in 1993
(Proclamation no. 79/1993) which has the following main and general objectives.
• To render radiation protection services
• To regulate, control, supervise radiological work and all activities relating to
acquisition, use, transportation and disposal of radioactive substances, x-ray
equipment and other materials capable of emitting ionizing radiation, and
• To promote and encourage research and development in radiation protection.
A new organization structure which will allow NRPA render effective protection service and
broaden its coverage is approved by the Federal government and implemented.
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THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF NRPA
ETHIOPIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COMMISSION
Administration
Finance (2)
General Service (4)
RADIATION PROTECTION AND HEALTH PHYSICS
LABORATORIES SENIOR
RADIATION PROTECTION AND
SAFETYLICENSING AND
INSPECTION SENIOR
RADIATION PROTECTION AND SAFETY
PERSONAL DOSIMETRY LICENSING
COMPLIANCE MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL ANDWASTE MANAGEMENT
METROLOGY & CALIBRATIONEMERGENCY RESPONSE
SECRETARY (1)
EXECUTIVE
LEGAL OFFICER (1)
INTERNAL AUDITOR
GENERAL MANAGER
CHIEF RADIATION PROTECTION OFFICER
ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE SERVICE HEAD
NATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION BOARD
1.3. Legal Frame Work
The general law governing the practice of ionizing radiation has been in place for over 3 years.
The task of enforcing the law is the responsibility ofNRPA which is led by a ministerial board,
the National Radiation Protection Board (NRPB). The board is composed of 9 Vice Ministers, the
Commission of ESTC (chairman) and the General Manager ofNRPA (secretary). The board
meets at least twice a year.
Based on International Basic Safety Standards,
The regulation following the general law has been drafted with the assistance of the International
Atomic Energy Agency. A committee is formed by the ESTC for revision and translation before
sending it to the Government for approval.
1.4. Present Activities
1.4.1. Personal Monitoring Services
— Personal monitoring of radiation workers involved in radiological and other activities
is being provided with Thermoluminescence Dosimetry technique
— A total of 470 workers are not getting this service every month. The number is
increasing with more regulatory control
1.4.2. Inspection and Control of Radiation Emitting Sources and Devices
— Registration of sources and machines emitting ionizing radiation started after NRPA
is established. So far 260 x-ray machines and 23 sealed sources are registered. The
number seems to increase with more inspection and public announcements with mass
media.
— Inspection of radiological facilities is carried our yearly in Hospitals/Clinics
possessing x-ray machines.
— Licensing of the possession and use of sources and the practice of radiological work
is the matter which is considered after the test through inspection is passed.
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— Conditions requiring to use ionizing radiation are to register thereby to notify the
Authority, the type of sources/machines they posses, the operating personnel, the
intended use, etc.
For machines entering the country from abroad, the Customs Authority is informed to hold
applications for customs clearance until the applicants have fulfilled the formalities with regard to
registration.
The registered sources/machines are expected to be inspected according to the time schedule set
by NRPA. The purpose of inspection is to guarantee the safety of the workers and the public form
radiation hazards. In the case of radiological facilities, quality assurance tests of the machines are
carried out.
Institutions satisfying the safety stands will be licensed to operate radiation sources/machines.
The license, however, has to be renewed regularly.
1.4.3. Disposal of Waste and Spent Sources
— A set of radium needles have been buried in one Hospital after use has been stopped
for many years.
— There are also requests from the University of Addis Ababa and other research
institutions to dispose spent sources.
— An interim disposal/storage facility have been thought of for some time in the past
but could not be materialized so far. In this regard the NRPA developed a project
proposal for establishing radioactive waste repository facility.
1.4.4. Environmental and Food Monitoring
— A high resolution gamma spectrometry system is used to analyze food and
environmental samples.
— Certificate of radioactivity content is provided to applicants, for import export food
stuffs.
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— Ambient level radiation measurement is carried out at different stations with in and
outside the capital.
1.4.5. Major Facilities
♦ A computerized Solaro TLD reader is used, for personal monitoring of radiation
workers in the country.
♦ A hyper pure Germanium (HPGe) gamma ray spectrometry system complete with the
electronics and the software.
♦ A low resolution Nal gamma ray spectroscopy system complete with the electronics
and the necessary software.
♦ The instrumentation of alpha spectrometry system, with Si surface barrier detector
and a vacuum pump.
♦ Quality assurance test Kits and a number of dose measuring devices.
♦ A small instrumentation and maintenance unit.
♦ A 20Ci (Cesium) source and an X-ray machine (together with the accessories),
installed in the secondary standard calibration bunker for calibrating a radiation
dosimetry instruments.
2. Peaceful Application of Nuclear Techniques and R&D
NRPA is mandated to regulate, supervise and control all activities involving Ionizing Radiation
and Nuclear Techniques.
It is now widely accepted that nuclear techniques constitute an important part of science and
technology inputs that are instrumental in the attainment of increased productivity and economic
development. The application of proven nuclear techniques in such areas as Insect and pest
control (SIT), Mutation Breeding, Soil fertility studies, Human Health, Isotype Hydrology and
Geothermics is gaining a broader areas of use with an increasing momentum in Ethiopia.
The activities involving peaceful application of nuclear techniques in Ethiopia are summarized as
follows.
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2.1. Animal Health, Nutrition and Reproduction
The first project in the area of animal sciences started in 1971 which continued under two phase
until the end of the seventies. The emphasis then was on the use of isotopes and radiation in the
field of medical and vereninary parasitology. Later on the activity also expanded to include
animal reporodcution aspects as well.
Institutions have undertaken various research projects in the field of animal health, reproduction
and nutrition. These include, Development of Feed Supplementation strategies, Reproduction
performance of Cows under small Holder Farm Management systems, Development of Bioassay
Techniques to Characterize Ethiopian Feed Resources, disease and Emergency problems under
small scale dairy cattle farms and Diagnosis and Monitoring of Rinderpest and Trypansomiasis.
Such research and development projects still progress with a particular focus on projects with,
visible impact and well articulated mechanisms for reaching the targeted end-users.
2.2. Sterile Insect Technique for Eradication of Tse-Tse Fly
A project for Eradicating the deadly insect “Tse-Tse”fly from the souther Rift Valley of Ethiopia
is recently launched. The project is expected to employ 18k curie Gamma irradiator facility.
The initial activity is to eradicate this insect from a pilot zone of 51.00km2 and it is envisaged to
expand and cover the estimated 25,000 km2 area from the Southern Rift Valley of Ethiopia.
The expected direct and indirect benefits of the project arise from reduction in cattle morbidity
and mortality losses and improved performance of livestock.
2.3. Mutation Breading the Increasing Agricultural Productivity
At present there are two IAEA assisted research projects in the area of applications of nuclear
techniques for crop improvement. Improvement of “Tef’(staple crop of Ethiopian high land)
through mutation breeding, and application of nuclear techniques in plant breeding and
biotechnology.
The project for improvement of Tef has an overall objective of creating generic variability for
traits like leaf rust and shattering resistance in Tef through the use of induced mutation techniques
upon which selection is to be made. The project employs a 8 k curie Gamma irradiator facility.
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2.4. Human Health
In the area of human health the peaceful application of nuclear techniques is employed in the
fields of Nuclear Medice, Radio-pharmacy and Radiotherapy.
The Nuclear Medicine Unit in one of the referral hospitals of Addis Ababa provides clinical
services albeit at smaller scale since 1984. The unit is equipped with a rectilinear scanner, dual
channel uptake machine and a gamma camera.
The Radio-pharmacy section is also involved with the local preparation of aqueous radio
pharmaceutical kits and acquired recently the necessary equipment in order to proceed with the
lyophilized kits.
The Radiotherapy Center started its services partly in July 1997 and equipped with among others
a cobalt 60 teletherapy and low dose rate brachytherapy units, dosimetry equipment, treatment
planning system and a mould room facility.
2.5. Human Nutrition
In this area an R&D project is in progress with an objective of assessing micronutrient
deficiencies in the nutritionally vulnerable women and children using isotope technique.
2.6. Isotype Hydrology and Geothermics
Water and energy resources development comes high on the development priority list of the
country following agriculture and environment protection.
Isotope techniques are broadly employed in Geothermal and Hydrological studies. Isotope
Hydrological and Geothermal Studies” project aiming to provide a conceptual Hydrological and
Geothermal studies of the Rift Valley model for exploration and exploration of Geothermal spots
through isotopic and geothermal techniques as the basis of development of geothermal resources.
A number of geothermal fields in the-Rift-valley, covering 150,000 km2 are at various stages of
exploration and development.
There is also another on going part of a Regional Model Project activities which aim at the
application of isotope in hydrological studies in an integrated manner with the conventional
hydrogeologicval methods.
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The Nuclear Science and Technology has evolved as part and parcel of the overall Science and
Technology development in Ethiopia under the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission.
The country programme in Ethiopia places emphasis on agriculture, water and geothermal
resources development, human health and building partnership with appropriate national and
international institutions.
In parallel with these socio-economic development oriented cooperation areas, Ethiopia aspire to
strengthen the national nuclear science and technology capacity and infrastructure to the extent
that it can meaning-fully and sustainably address demonstrated needs. Other than the scientific
and development areas of cooperation Ethiopia realizes its international obligations in safeguards
and nuclear safety.
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PART II
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF THE CTBT AND THOUGHTS ON COOPERATION
1. The Links Between the Objectives of Nrpa and the CTBT Treaty
The National Radiation Protection Authority is an autonomous public authority having its own
legal personality.
The objectives of the Authority are:
• Rendering Radiation Protection Services;
• Regulating, controlling and supervising radiological work and all activities relating to
the acquisition, use, transportation and disposal of radioactive substances, x-ray
equipment and other machines capable of emitting ionizing radiation; and
• Promoting research and development in radiation protection.
The Authority is also delegated with an appropriate power and duties in order to ensure that the
public is adequately protected form the attendant risks of damage to health, property and the
environment.
On the other hand the CTBT regime envisages the creation of a broader context for safer and
secure world. With this background, although at a Micro level and with thinly focused objectives,
I believe that the activities NRPA as a of the National Authority will be contributing to the
achievement of the broader goals, and the knowledge and experience developed so far will also
form the core foundation up on which the full scale CTBT verification related technologies could
be implemented. This point marks the need to associate the responsibilities of CTBT verification
related activities with an appropriate National Institution, as an important step for success as I am
going to comment on this issue in the letter part of the paper.
2. Benefits That Could Accrue From CTBT Implementation
As per the CTBT, state parties will verify the comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty using a
state-of-the-art monitoring and analysis system to identify nuclear explosions any where in the
world. This framework provides a cooperative and transparent context promoting confidence
among state parties with the ultimate goal of achieving a safe and secure world.
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Verifying the provisions of the treaty will require an extensive global monitoring system of 321
seismic, hydroaqustic, inffasound and radionuclide stations, together with state-of-the-art
communications and analysis software know as International Monitoring System (IMS) and
International Data centre (IDC).
In this network African countries will deploy and host 38 individual IMS stations and will be also
be connected either directly or through their national data centres with the IDC.
The completion of the IMS and the IDC will definitely form a solid foundation for an
unprecedented global test ban verification system. Parallely these same capabilities can also
support a broad range of international and national scientific and technical co-operation.
As the verification system is designed to detect and identify nuclear explosions over the entire
earth it also monitor considerable background “noise” from large number of earthquakes,
volcanoes, atmospheric disturbances, and conventional explosions. The data and information
produced by this system will be useful both to states parties for CTBT verification and to
organizations concerned with geophysical monitoring as well as for business at large.
This possibility for dual use of the IDC data and information is clearly envisaged by the CTBT
Article IV, paragraph 10.
The potential “dual-use” of elements of the verification system can cover a range of applications
such as hazard monitoring, disaster relief, earth quake risk reduction, scientific and technical
training and economic mineral exploration.
Besides satisfying the primary objectives of the CTBT, the verification system serve important
social and economic goals and provide a broad agenda for international scientific and technical
cooperation by using the data and resources of the IMS and IDC.
In the context of most African states the following benefits can accrue from implementing the
CTBT and verification measures.
• State signatories will have a direct access to the IDC data and bulletins which will be
valuable for monitoring seismic hazards and radionuclide dispersion. These products will
significantly improve the quality and availability of seismic an radionuclide monitoring work
and the real time data could be valuable for disaster prevention and hazard mitigation.
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The organized and archived information could also be used for the business sector and
insurance companies for risk analysis.
• State signatories can benefit from the technical assistance that can be provided for;
— Establishing the IMS individual monitoring stations;
— In formulating the requirements for selection and screening of data and products and
eventually for developing the capability to receive, process and analyze IMS data at their
national data centres.
• Implementing countries will also benefit from the specialized scientific and technical
trainings offered by the PTS to train National personnel. The delivery of outputs from such
trained personnel will strengthen the national programmes for verification related activities as
well as support other economic sectors.
3. Thoughts on Cooperation
• For effective implementation of the CTBT at large, effective implementation of the
verification regime is an essential prerequisite.
• For complete and effective global verification regime, timely and excellent completion of
national verification related activities is decisively essential.
• Africa’s context for implementing such national verification regimes is by-in-large different
♦ Political
♦ Economic
♦ Social
♦ Technological
• The above context creates a situation characterized with the problems of :-
♦ Loosely defined responsibly, at worst lack of responsibility.
♦ Assignment of inappropriate institutions
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♦ Bounded rationality
♦ Problems of knowledge and expertise
♦ Lack of commitments (low in priority)
• To come out of this situation, accelerate the implementation process and achieve the treaty
objectives in a sustainable manner, the only available and viable gateway is through building
effective partnership and cooperation
• Through cooperative framework we can achieve
♦ Better synergy;
♦ Better environment for cross fertilizing ideas;
♦ Resource efficiency “Cooperative use of scarce resources”(man power, Equipment)
♦ Suitable environment for propagating experience and creation of multiplier effect.
• How such cooperation can be established?
I suggest a three stage approach.
1. Provisional Technical Secretariat should closely work with signatory state parties to support
and encourage the representation of appropriate national institutions.
2. Creating a regional coordinating Mechanisms with in the PTS of CTBTO.
♦ Will provide essential flexibility in formulating SMART objectives;
♦ Will provide better coordination;
♦ Focused approach to achieve resource intensity;
♦ It will provide effective implementation back-stopping service.
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• The regional coordinating mechanism could be a multi-disciplinary project team involving
experts from, IMS, EDC, and OSI as well as legal and external relations.
• The major tasks of the project team
♦ Closely liaise with designated national authorities, institutions;
♦ Assist counterpart institutions in developing realistic action plans;
♦ Provide project implementation technical support services;
♦ Conduct periodic evaluation, drawing recommended actions and provide technical back
stopping in future actions.
3. Establish or designation of centres of excellence
♦ Joint research programs in radionuclides, monitoring of trans-boundary rivers, soils and
environmental samples.
♦ Data exchange
♦ Training of personnel.
Conclusion
The end of nuclear weapon development activities is often considered as the principal benefit of
the CTBT. However this perspective may be limited. As the world begins to implement the treaty
it has become clear that the development and operation of the CTBT verification system will
provide a range of additional benefits if the data and analysis products are available for dual use
applications. These applications have important economic and social implications, especially for
African countries with limited technical infrastructure.
For ensuring effective implementation of the treaty and maximizing their benefits from
participating in the CTBT, state parties in Africa should adopt a proactive and cooperative
approach as partnership and cooperation in the area is a gateway for mutual advantage by
achieving global peace and security on the one hand and economic technological and social
advancement on the other.
Thank you.
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