During an IAEA course held last month in Viet Nam, 24 radiation safety professionals from Asia and the Pacific learned how to train radiation protection officers at medical and industrial facilities.

The participants in the 21-26 May 2018 course learned about the safe use of radiation sources at medical and industrial facilities, and how to organize training events and exercises.

“Good understanding of the International Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources is a key principle in medical and industrial facilities, but trainers also need good communication and presentation skills,” said Amparo Cristobal, an IAEA Radiation Safety Specialist who lead the course.

The participants, from Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Viet Nam and Yemen,?as well as the territories under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, will train?their respective radiation protection officers, using skills they developed in the week-long course and related online tests and quizzes.

“As a trainer, I will use what I learned to enhance knowledge of radiation protection officers in my country,” said Muhammad Afzal, Principal Scientific Officer at the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

The course, organized in cooperation with the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (VARANS), also addressed radiation safety topics in applications such as industrial radiography, diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine, X-ray, and radiotherapy.

Train-the-trainers’ courses

The course was the second of its kind this year, with a Spanish-language course held earlier in Uruguay. The course is part of support the IAEA offers to help countries develop skills they need to ensure radiation protection.