Speaker
Description
The Atomic Energy Council is a body corporate established by the Atomic Energy Act Cap. 154, with a mandate to regulate peaceful applications of ionizing radiation in Uganda.
In Uganda, radioactive material are used in medical applications for diagnosis and treatment of cancer, in industry for level gauging particularly in the bottling companies, for nuclear gauging operations during road construction of compaction of the mixture of tarmac, for non-destructive testing of welded joints in fabrications and, during oil well logging prospecting, in agriculture for pest and disease control as well as breeding high yielding crops, and in education institutions for research purposes.
In order to realize the benefits of the above applications, safety and security measures need to be undertaken during transport of radioactive material for all modes of transport. Currently, Part XII of the Atomic Energy Regulations, 2012 provides national framework for the transportation of radioactive material.
Uganda through Atomic Energy Council developed standalone regulations on safe and secure transport of nuclear and other radioactive material that are at the stage of legislative drafting by the First Parliamentary Counsel under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. To further strengthen the legal and regulatory framework, the Atomic Energy Act, Cap. 154 is undergoing amendment to make it more comprehensive and inclusive of all aspects of transportation of nuclear and other radioactive material.
These transport regulations have to undergo all the required stages before they are gazetted, and then popularized by operators. These regulations are in line with SSR-6 and NSS-9, hence bridging the compliance gaps with the operators due to inadequate safety measures and lack of security measures.
Whereas developing national framework for the legal and regulatory framework for transport, a number of challenges have been encountered such as; gaps in the law, inadequate sensitization of operators, inadequate expertise in the area of transport among others.
