IAEA Safeguards: Correctness and Completeness of States’ Safeguards Declarations

In the light of the occasional challenges in recent years to the legal authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify the correctness and completeness of States’ declarations under comprehensive safeguards agreements, the chapter assesses the law and practice on this issue since the early 1990s. In particular, the chapter focuses right and obligation of the IAEA to verify the correctness and completeness of States’ declarations—one of the most fundamental principles in the implementation of comprehensive safeguards agreements. The chapter provides a detailed textual and historical analysis indicating that, in fulfilling that obligation, the IAEA is not limited to access to information about nuclear material which has been declared by the Agency, or to locations where such material has been declared by the Agency. A contrary interpretation would cause the IAEA to revert to a pre-1991 approach to verification that focused primarily on declared nuclear material, which resulted in the IAEA’s failure to detect Iraq’s undeclared nuclear programme.

Review planned for Fukushima waste-water release

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to conduct a safety review of the planned discharge of millions of tonnes of treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear reactor into the ocean.

Prospects for Iran in 2022

Subject Prospects for Iran in 2022. Significance After five waves of COVID-19, Iran’s new government will prioritise domestic and economic issues. The conservative administration of President Ibrahim Raisi is trying to bolster its legitimacy by demonstrating improved capacity and good governance through accelerated vaccine distribution, anti-corruption efforts and a strong focus on the ‘resistance economy’, boosting local output. Impacts Iran will prioritise efforts to improve ties with Gulf Cooperation Council neighbours. Management of political and economic crises involving client Shia groups in Beirut and Baghdad will be a major focus. Nuclear monitoring disputes with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency will remain difficult to resolve. Inflation will likely rise further, given strained government finances.

Natural Radionuclide Analysis on Crude Petroleum from Some Oil Fields in Ghana

The petroleum industries benefit immensely from developing scientific processes and procedures that determine characteristics of crude oils and distinct them. This is because crude oils are acquired from various geological sources and each sedimentary rock has its own distinct chemical properties that affect extraction, refinery and environmental safety. Extraction of crude oils may result in exposure of some radionuclide elements from sedimentary rocks into the environments. This nuclear exposure may affect lives and can cause ecological imbalance. Applications of gamma emission spectroscopy has grown rapidly around the world because of its accurate measurement and precision. Such technique has not been applied for the study of naturally occurring radionuclide materials (NORMs) in crude oils from the active oil fields in Ghana. The study employed the use of gamma spectroscopic technique for characterization of crude oil samples from Jubilee Oil Field, Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme (TEN) Oil Field and Saltpond Oil Field. The technique was applied on four crude oil samples. The results of this paper actually report on radionuclide concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials in four crude samples using a Gamma-Ray spectrometer. Three radionuclides, radium-226 (226 Ra), thorium-232 (232 Th) and potassium-40 (40 K), were identified from each crude sample (JF, TF SF-1 and SF-2). It was observed that samples from Saltpond Oil Field estimated the highest activity concentration and the least was crude oil from Jubilee Oil Field. The activity concentration values were far less than the approved values by International Atomic Energy Agency for basic safety standard. Therefore, the radionuclides activity concentration values of crude oil samples from Jubilee, TEN, and Saltpond oil fields were within the basic safety standards exemption levels of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The crude oils from the oil fields can therefore be considered safe to handle. Also, the results of the activity concentrations from the sample used for this study indicate that crude petroleum from the oil fields may relatively have little nuclear activity impact to ecology and human health. The result of this study may be adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Petroleum Stakeholders of Ghana for development of petroleum geo-radionuclides radiation safety measures.

ESTIMASI DOSIS RADIASI PERMUKAAN KULIT PADA PEMERIKSAAN RADIOLOGI DENGAN APLIKASI AHD RAD BERBASIS WEB

ABSTRAKDosis radiasi Sinar-X pada pemeriksaan radiologi dihitung berdasarkan dosis permukaan kulit yang diterima pasien. Hal tersebut dilakukan sebagai evaluasi terhadap pemberian dosis radiasi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan sistem aplikasi berbasis web dalam menghitung estimasi dosis radiasi permukaan kulit pasien yang diberi nama AHD Rad. Metode penelitian dilakukan dengan desain rancangan pengembangan, dan pengambilan data berupa nilai faktor eksposi. Dilakukan uji komparasi dosis radiasi antara AHD Rad dan software CALDose_X versi 5.0. Perhitungan dosis radiasi pada AHD Rad menggunakan pendekatan matematis dan fisika merujuk kepada Technical Report Series International Atomic Energy Agency (TRS IAEA) 457 tahun 2007. Data nilai faktor eksposi dengan parameter tegangan tabung (kV), arus tabung (mAs) dan jarak tabung ke film (FFD) yang sama, di masukkan melalui aplikasi CALDose_X versi 5.0 dan AHD Rad. Jumlah data sebanyak 50 dengan pengambilan data secara random sampling pada pemeriksaan radiografi umum. Pengolahan data menggunaan SPSS 11. Uji komparasi dilakukan dengan margin error 5 % dengan tingkat kepercayaan 95 %. Hasil menunjukkan nilai tidak terdapat perbedaan signifikan pada uji komparasi yang dilakukan pada aplikasi AHD Rad dengan CALDose_X versi 5.0. Sehingga aplikasi AHD Rad dapat dipergunakan dalam estimasi dosis radiasi pasien. .Kata kunci: Dosimetri; Dosis Radiasi Permukaan Kulit; AHD Rad ABSTRACTX-ray radiation dose in a radiological examination is calculated based on the skin surface dose received by the patient. This is done as an evaluation of the radiation dose. This study aims to develop a web-based application system for calculating the estimated dose of radiation to the patient's skin surface, which is named AHD Rad. The research method was carried out with a development design and data collection in exposure factor values. A comparative test of radiation dose was conducted between AHD Rad and CALDose_X software version 5.0. Calculation of radiation dose on AHD Rad using mathematical and physical approaches refers to the Technical Report Series International Atomic Energy Agency (TRS IAEA) 457 in 2007. Exposure factor value data with tube voltage parameters (kV), tube current (mAs), and tube distance to film (FFD), entered through the CALDose_X application version 5.0 and AHD Rad. The number of data is 50 by taking data by random sampling on general radiographic examination. Data processing using SPSS 11. The comparison test was carried out with a margin of error of 5% with a 95% confidence level. The results show no significant difference in the comparison test carried out on the AHD Rad application with CALDose_X version 5.0 so that the AHD Rad application can be used to estimate the patient's radiation dose. Keywords: Dosimetry; Skin Surface Radiation Dose; AHD Rad.

Năng lượng nguyên tử có phải là giải pháp cho các thách thức thời đại?

Mới đây, Việt Nam đã được bầu vào Hội đồng Thống đốc Cơ quan Năng lượng Nguyên tử Quốc tế (International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA). Kể từ khi năng lượng nguyên tử được đem vào nghiên cứu và ứng dụng thành công trong lĩnh vực cung ứng năng lượng, nó đã trở thành một tia hi vọng mới cho sự phát triển của nhân loại. Tuy nhiên, các sự kiện liên quan đến năng lượng nguyên tử, như việc ném bom hạt nhân của quân đội Mỹ vào các thành phố của Nhật Bản năm 1945 cho đến thảm họa nhà máy nguyên tử Chernobyl và Fukushima Daiichi, đã cho thấy khả năng hủy diệt của năng lượng nguyên tử. Câu hỏi được đặt ra là: Đã 10 năm kể từ khi thảm họa Fukushima xảy ra, chúng ta đã tìm ra cách giải quyết những mối lo ngại về an toàn xã hội của năng lượng nguyên tử, như rủi ro nổ nhà máy, xử lý chất phóng xạ, hay kiểm soát chế tạo vũ khí hạt nhân, với các tiến bộ khoa học công nghệ hiện nay hay chưa?Bài viết này sẽ tóm tắt bản tường trình hội nghị ‘Thorium energy for the world’ (tạm dịch: năng lượng Thorium cho toàn cầu) và bàn luận về khả năng của khoa học và công nghệ trong việc kiểm soát và phát triển ngành công nghiệp năng lượng đầy triển vọng này.