This follows the recovery of an industrial radioactive device from Al Rahba in Abu Dhabi on Sunday after it went missing from Musaffah on October 25.
The material in the device, Iridium (Ir-192), is used for industrial radiography to help take pictures of metal weldings.
Ayhan Evrendal, Communication Advisor and Spokesperson of FANR, speaking to Khaleej Times, said it requires “24-hour thinking” to implement regulations and companies must be vigilant at all times.
“There has been a steep rise in the number of licences issued to companies dealing with nuclear sources and the licencees must abide by the rules for safety. The FANR is the umbrella body which governs the use of nuclear sources and the country’s civilian nuclear programme.”
The FANR has received 543 licence applications from government and private entities for the use of nuclear material and has so far issued 381 licences.
Radioactive sources are used in many industrial and medical applications, which include oil exploration and cancer treatment.
According to the Federal Law, by Decree No 6 of 2009, Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, all radiation sources in the UAE have to be licensed by the FANR.
“It’s not a unique situation that such a source has been lost. The loss of nuclear material is happening all over the world and such losses are added to the International Atomic Agency Database (IAEA) which we did. Fortunately for us, it was recovered in time,” he said.
Last month, FANR experts, Ministry of Interior officials, police departments from all the emirates and the Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA) discussed safety regulations and combined efforts to prevent radioactive sources getting lost or stolen.
More than 400 representatives from the industrial and medical sectors in the UAE attended the workshops conducted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on safety, security and safeguards, also known as the ‘3S approach’.
Earlier in the year, training sessions were held for federal and local authorities on searching and securing lost nuclear sources. The session also discussed nuclear or radiological emergencies.
The device missing from Musaffah was not damaged or tampered with. There was also no contamination, according to the nuclear body.
The Abu Dhabi Police, Health Authority—Abu Dhabi, the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA), the Armed Forces, FANR and the company from which the device went missing coordinated well in this case, said Evrendal.
“This case thankfully had a happy end, without anyone being hurt,” said Dr John Loy, Director of FANR Radiation Safety Department.
“But it showed vulnerabilities on the part of our licencees in securing radioactive sources, and we will look into that. It also showed how closely local and federal authorities must work together.”
