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The National University Hospital of Iceland stored Ra-226 disused radioactive sources. The Icelandic Radiation Safety Authority requested assistance to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the conditioning of these sources. The IAEA opened a tender and the Radiation Protection and Hygiene Center (CPHR) presented an offer that was approved. The objective was to condition the disused sources to allow for safe storage, awaiting further management by the Hospital. The conditioned sources would be sent to a foreign company for recycling. The sources were characterized and conditioned in a Special Form Capsule for transportation. The operations were carried out safely and under the License granted to the National University Hospital by the Regulatory Body and with the supervision of the IAEA. The capsule with the Ra-226 sources was safely stored at the Department of Oncology ready to be transported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Center for Radiation Protection and Hygiene (CPHR) is the institution in Cuba that provides dosimetric calibration services of instruments at radiationl protection, radiotherapy, diagnostic radiology and interventionism level. This practice is developed by the Secondary Standard Dosimetric Laboratory and guarantees the metrological traceability of dose magnitudes to a Primary Standard Dosimetric Laboratory. It is carried out in compliance with a strict Radiation Protection Program designed to guarantee the radiation safety of people and the environment and to obtain the Operating License established in the national regulatory framework. The radiation protection program includes the necessary provisions to ensure the radiation protection of people while working with ionizing radiation sources. The safety of the personnel is one of the key elements of the program and is based on requirements such as radiological control both individually and of the workplaces, the design of the facilities, operational and safety procedures and inventory control, among other aspects that have allowed compliance with the annual dose constraints imposed by the Regulatory Authority for this category of exposed personnel. This paper presents the experiences in the application of these requirements for more than 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of training and training in radiation protection has implied the effort to develop technical competencies as part of a national strategy. The Radiation Protection and Hygiene Center has carried out actions aimed at the training and preparation of Radiological Protection Officer (OPR); as well as personnel directly related to the safety of the practices. Since 1998, the "National Fundamentals of Radiological Protection Course for OPR" has been developed annually. This course is theoretical-practical, classroom course, addresses the issue of radiological protection in a comprehensive manner and pays tribute to the individual certification and licensing process. In addition, specialized courses on radiological protection for industry and medicine have been designed and implemented; that have responded to the demand for training of all occupational categories of existing practices. These courses are not academic and their objective is to help create technical and behavioral skills in the personnel involved in safety and radiation protection at the facilities. Its modular design covers the subject of radiological protection from the general to the specific, taking into account the requirements of the practice safety guides. This paper presents the results of 25 years; where around 2000 people have been trained, thus contributing to the safe management of sources and equipment generating ionizing radiation and to the control of occupational, medical and public exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improvement of the Health System in Cuba from 1996 to the present, characterized by technological renovation and modernization; has allowed the introduction and development of innovative studies in diagnostic radiology (including dental) and interventional procedures guided by images. However, the benefit associated with the use of ionizing radiation has also led to an increase in doses and radiological risk for occupationally exposed workers, patients and members of the public. Therefore, the practice of diagnostic radiology should be carried out with high standards of radiation protection and safety culture. There are regulatory documents issued by the Ministry of Public Health wish establish the general precepts for the authorization of the practice of diagnostic radiology. However, the radiological protection programs have not been adequately developed and established in the institutions of the country where this practice has been implemented, and the application processes for the corresponding authorizations has not been organized. In order to develop Radiation Protection Programs for the practice of medical radiodiagnosis, we worked in two reference centers of our health system, where have been performed complex diagnostic and interventional procederes. Taking into account the magnitude of the risk associated with the development of the practice in each one of them, the procedures, instructions, records and the responsibilities of the personnel were established. The results obtained have contributed to the strengthening of the radiation protection and safety of the practice in both institutions where the programs have been implemented. They have started the process to obtain the Institutional Licenses, constituting the first experience in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of substances to diagnose or identify a system specific phase, that is, which function as tracers, is an effective tool in the study of multiple phenomena. There are several kinds of tracers and, within them, radioactive tracers are the most sensitive and used for the study and online diagnosis of many systems, hence their use in industrial processes has an extensive use. However, an authorization from the National Regulatory Body is necessary to use radioactive sources. The safety assessment, the radiation protection program, operational and safety procedures as well as the emergency plan were prepared and presented to the Regulatory Body to apply for authorization. The safety assessment includes the dose estimations for normal operations and potential doses in accidental situations. The safety analysis used the methodology of risk matrixes. As a result, it was obtained that the doses under normal operating conditions comply with the annual limits for occupationally exposed workers and for the public, while the risk levels are predominantly low, so it was concluded that it is possible to carry out the practice under adequate security conditions and the CPHR obtained the operating license. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of ionizing radiation provides benefits in medicine, industry and research and in its application, radiological risks must be minimized, for which safety requirements are established, one of which is to achieve adequate training of personnel, which constitutes an important barrier against the occurrence of adverse events. The specific national guidelines for industrial practices establish the requirements for training in radiation protection for the different occupational categories. However, even though there were previous experiences in the implementation of courses for this purpose, there was no defined and structured program for the category “operator”. In this sense, courses were designed for the practices of industrial radiography, nuclear gauges, industrial irradiation and the use of fixed X-ray equipment. The design includes the characteristics and the program of the course, the description of compliance with the radiological protection requirements and the estimated dose that the participants are expected to receive in the case of the use of ionizing radiation sources in the practical activities, evaluation system and formats for certificate, registration form and participant and attendance data records. This design will allow the harmonization of the knowledge that is transmitted to the participants, thus allowing to comply the regulatory requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic element to achieve the measurement traceability is the correct implementation and dissemination of the measurement standards. In the case of dosimetry, there are internationally harmonized calibration methods; however difficulties may arise in their introduction related to the technical characteristics of the standards and the methods described in the technical documents. The use of commercially available dosimetry systems as secondary standards requires the personalized studies of their technical characteristics. The recommended methods do not always compatible with the available infrastructure and modifications are needed. The article makes a critical analysis of the implementation of the dosimetry secondary standards in the international arena based on the identified difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on a high-priority subject nationwide: the growing need for training in radiation protection for occupationally exposed workers and the strength of having specialized web portals on this matter. The Specialized Web Portal, EDUCPRA "Cuba's Portal for Education and Training in Radiological Protection", has been developed in this context, which makes available to its users, in an easy and integrated way, access to contents, regulations, national and international standards, directories, applications and services related to the matter that allow the identification, dissemination, and promotion of the training capacities in radiation protection. The main objective of EDUCPRA is to become the technological support of the National Strategy for Education and Training in Radiological Protection. EDUCPRA allows supervising the operation of the education and training activity in Radiological Protection in Cuba, and contributing to the processes of identification of needs, certification of personnel, and competence recognition of radiation protection courses. Through EDUCPRA, the available capacities to the country can be promoted to be able to comply with the training requirements established in the national regulatory framework, and the number of personnel trained by practice and occupational category can be known, allowing the evaluation of the effectiveness of the national training program. EDUCPRÁ will give visibility to the performance indicators of the training in Radiological protection in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production and use of Ra-226 sealed sources was internationally recommended to be halted for health and safety reasons. Consequently, all Ra-226 sources in Cuba were collected, characterized and conditioned. The paper describes the safety and operational aspects related to the Ra-226 conditioning. For this, a Special Permission was granted by the Regulatory Body, as required. A radiological assessment, a safety report as well as an emergency plan were prepared and approved before the operations. The work was accomplished with due reliability following an established comprehensive Quality Management System. As a result of these operations, 188.5 GBq of Ra-226, contained in different types of radiation sources (brachytherapy needles and tubes, standard sources for calibration, etc.) were encapsulated and conditioned. The capsules with the sources were conditioned in a retrievable form within five waste packages intended for long term storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]