Regulatory infrastructure in East and West Asia: Present status and perspectives

A detailed assessment carried out by the IAEA showed that five Member States in East Asia (Bangladesh, Mongolia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam) and nine Member States in West Asia (Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen) did not have an adequate radiation and waste safety infrastructure in general and a basic regulatory infrastructure in particular. This indicated the partial or complete lack of control of radiation sources, i.e. location, identification, registration, licensing and inspection. Since 1996, these countries have been participating in the Model Project on Upgrading Radiation and Waste Safety Infrastructure with the primary objective of establishing or upgrading their basic regulatory infrastructure. The results achieved in the establishment/upgrading of this infrastructure and the follow-up and extension to other Member States are presented in this paper. (author)