GHANA ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION AND GTRI ACTIVITIES IN GHANA

The Office of Global Threat Reduction’s (GTRI) Protect Program supports the protection of nuclear and radiological sites throughout the world. This paper summarizes the activities in Ghana where the GTRI program has funded physical protection upgrades at large radiological sources at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, and at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commissions (GAEC) Gamma Irradiation Facility in Kwabenya. GTRI is also funding an addition to the existing national radioactive source storage facility to enlarge it to meet the needs of Ghana for many years to come. Further, security upgrades at other large radiological sources and a Miniature Neutron Sources Reactor at the GAEC facility have been done by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A central alarm station coordinating the new security systems sponsored by both the IAEA and GTRI is also being installed at the GAEC. The GTRI program has also sponsored a Search and Secure Workshop in Ghana to train the radiation protection staff in how to locate orphan sources and in how to perform a verified inventory. New portable radiation detection equipment has been provided to the Radiation Protection Institute to support this important effort. This paper summarizes these efforts.