Improving the Cradle - to - Grave Control of Sealed Radioactive Sources: An Interregional Approach – 628

The Mediterranean region is characterized by intense maritime trade that enable s the movement of persons and goods among coastal countries and , from the re , to other countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. In the context of this intense traffic, some occurrences of trade accidentally involving radioactive sources or contaminated materials which needed t o be properly addressed upon positive detection have been reported at borders and inland . In some cases, orphan radi oactive sources have reached industrial processes , resulting in the inadvertent release of considerable amount s of radioactivity to the environment. For several years, the IAEA has been working to strengthen the control of radioactive sources to avoid these occurrences , and to protect the public from the hazards of ionizing radiation. Some of the se efforts are channeled through the IAEA t echnical c ooperation p rogramme , with the objective of providing Member States with assistance to fac e this challenge. As part of its efforts to address this problem, the IAEA is implementing interregional project INT9176 , ‘ Strengthening Cradle - to - Grave Control of Radioactive Sources in the Mediterranean Region ’ . The primary objective of the project is to contribute “to ensure an adequate and permanent control over radioactive sources at s tate level, benefiting from the use of a harmonized regional approach consistent with IAEA safety standards and other international best pr actice s .” The project , approved for a duration of four years, has been operating since 2012 . It is funded by the IAEA Technical Cooperation Fund with important extra - budgetary contributions from the European Union, Spain and the United States . To date , numerous activities ha ve been implemented, including activities regarding the update of the regulatory framework, waste management infrastructure and inventories of radioactive sources in each partici pating country. National policies and strategies for radioactive waste management have been developed or updated. Conditioning, packaging, storage and disposal of disused radioactive sources and the development of new technology aimed at merging the M obile Hot Cell and the Borehole Disposal Concept are also activities considered within the project.