Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) participates in a regional training workshop as part of the IAEA project to support Regulatory authorities in the Caribbean (RLA9087).
Saint Lucia is advancing on the path to formalizing a legal and regulatory framework for the effective regulatory control of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks. An important aspect of a regulatory framework is to ensure that the implementation of the regulatory programme is commensurate and proportionate to the radiation risks associated with facilities and activities, in accordance with the graded approach.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) offers a wide spectrum of training courses and capacity-building through its technical cooperation programme to member states.
The Regulatory Authority Information System (RAIS) is a software application developed by the IAEA to assist Member States in managing their regulatory control programmes in accordance with IAEA Safety Standards and guides.
RAIS promotes a consistent and common approach to the regulatory control of radiation sources while offering the flexibility to respond to the specific
needs of Member States with respect to their national legislative frameworks,
administrative structures and institutional and regulatory frameworks.
The main features of RAIS are the maintenance of registries and records of regulatory data, the management of regulatory information, and the management of regulatory activities.
RAIS is a comprehensive system for the regulatory framework, including national regulatory infrastructure information, facilities and departments, radiation sources and associated equipment, authorization, inspection, enforcement, workers, radiation events, and technical services.
Having joined the IAEA in February 2019, Saint Lucia in July 2022 signed our political commitment to the non-legally binding Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources. This Code aims at assisting national authorities to ensure that radioactive sources are used within an appropriate framework of radiation safety and security.
The Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources supplements the Code and aims to provide for an adequate transfer of responsibility when a source is being transferred from one State to another. The Guidance on the Management of Disused Radioactive Sources provides further guidance regarding the establishment of a national policy and strategy for the management of disused sources, and on the implementation of management options such as recycling and reuse, long term storage pending disposal and return to a supplier.
The workshop is facilitated by experts from the IAEA and hosted by the Jamaica Hazardous Substances Regulatory Authority (HSRA). In attendance were representatives several agencies from United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Belize Environmental Agency, Barbados Environmental Agency, Antigua Bureau of Standards, St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards, Antigua Customs and the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards.
