Speaker
Description
PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO SECURE RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS IN GHANA
Obed Agbenorku
Nuclear Regulatory Authority
Radioactive materials are currently used worldwide and its use is of serious concern and has therefore become a national responsibility to secure it from both nuclear proliferation and radiological hazard. In Ghana, its beneficial applications ranges from medicine, industry, agriculture and academia. In the application of radioactive materials in the above area of activities, many are poorly secured and vulnerable to theft, radiation risks to workers, the public and to the environment. Theft, sabotage and radiological hazards have occurred round the world during the use of radioactive materials as a result of ineffective regulatory control or as a result of lapses in management control. These hazards generally have radiological, social, psychological and economic consequences on the individual, the public and the environment as a whole. In Ghana, various security measures that may serve either as deterrence or prevent any unauthorized access to a protected nuclear facility and associated facilities are used. In ensuring that radioactive materials do not become the subject of unauthorized use leading to illicit trafficking, the following preventive measures are taken into consideration. In Ghana, preventive security measures are put into two level, these are, state level and facility level. Preventive measures at state level comprises of national legal system which is the act that establishes the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) and other legal instrument which governs the use and security of radioactive materials, development of regulations, establishment of procedures and coordination, monitoring of border crossing and human resource development. At the facility levels, physical protection and facility functions are considered for the security of radioactive materials. These comprises the physical protection of the various facilities, provision of security guards at all facilities containing radioactive materials, access control measures and effective implementation of security culture.
