The Guidance on the Management of Disused Radioactive Sources (Disused Radioactive Sources Guidance) which is supplementary to the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources (Code of Conduct), provides guidance on the disused radioactive source provisions of the Code of Conduct regarding the establishment of a national policy and strategy for the management of disused radioactive sources, and on the implementation of management options such as reuse and/or recycling, long term storage pending disposal and return to a supplier.
The Disused Radioactive Sources Guidance was approved in September 2017, and in resolution GC(61)/RES/8 the IAEA General Conference, endorsed the Guidance while recognizing it is not legally binding, and called on all Member States to make a political commitment to implement the Code of Conduct and its supplementary Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources and its supplementary Guidance on the Management of Disused Radioactive Sources and to act in accordance with the Code and the Guidance. At present, 80 Member States have written to the Director General, expressing their political support for the Disused Radioactive Sources Guidance.
Disused Radioactive Sources
Disused radioactive sources are defined as sources that are no longer used and there is no intention of using them again in the practices they were authorized for. Spent sources, which can no longer be used for their intended purposes as a result of radioactive decay, are a sub-set of disused radioactive sources.
If lost or not properly controlled, disused radioactive sources can be a threat to human health and the environment. Exposure to large doses of radiation from an unshielded high-activity source can be lethal or cause severe radiation injury. If the source capsule is damaged, the radioactive material can be released and dispersed, resulting in contamination to the environment and potential radiological hazards for people.
Through its Safety Standards and other documents, such as the Code of Conduct on Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources and the Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources, the IAEA provides the international requirements and recommendations for an appropriate and sustainable regulatory system for the control of radioactive sources. The Agency also provides various tools to assist regulatory bodies in strengthening the effectiveness of their activities, including the Self-Assessment of Regulatory Infrastructure for Safety (SARIS), the Regulatory Authority Information System (RAIS), the Control of Sources Network (CSN) and the Radioactive Waste Management Registry (RWMR) for operators.
The IAEA also assists its Member States in implementing safe and cost-effective technologies for recovering, conditioning and storing radioactive sources. Direct assistance includes:
- Search for potential orphan sources, as well as recovery and safe management of found sources;
- Recovering, characterizing and conditioning of disused radioactive sources, including radium sources, lightening conductor sources and smoke detectors, for long-term storage or disposal;
- Completion of national inventories of disused radioactive sources, source characterization and record-keeping; and
- Providing assistance for the repatriation or recycling of high-activity disused radioactive sources
