Conditioning of disposed radioactive sources and dismantling of nuclear meters in Paraguay

Paraguay has a Disused Source Management Laboratory (LAGeFuDe), of the Commission National Atomic Energy of the National University of Asuncion (CNEA-UNA), Authorized as Temporary Warehouse of Deprecated Radioactive Sources, with an inventory of disused sources stored but not managed. This work aims to describe the operation development of the conditioning of disused sealed sources and the dismantling of nuclear meters carried out in two places, in the LaGeFuDe and in the National Cancer Institute (INCAN), This operation It was carried out with an IAEA Expert Mission through Project RLA9078 / 30/01 "Strengthening of the National Regulatory Framework and Technological Capabilities for the Management of Radioactive Waste ". In order to minimize the radiation doses received by the personnel involved in the operation and avoid any radioactive intake or contamination of the site, complied with all standard radiation protection guidelines. The tasks performed were: Verification of the inventory of disused radioactive sources for conditioning, preparation of capsules, necessary shielding and containers, preparation of jobs according to the types of sources to be conditioned, dismantling of nuclear meters, conditioning of disused radioactive sources, sealing of the capsules, tightness test, recording of all the operations and training of personnel, of LaGeFuDe.