(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Sanaullah Ataullah |
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: To preserve the environment, Qatar in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will implement a programme for the safe handling of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) waste using nuclear technology.
“IAEA approved to support a national project of Qatar for strengthening regulatory control and implementing an effective programme for the safe handling of NORM waste,” said Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie. He said that this project will be implemented from this month (January 2024) until the end of 2026.
The Minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of a symposium on peaceful uses of atomic energy' organised by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) in Doha yesterday.
He said that Qatar is participating in 25 projects of the IAEA's Technical Cooperation Programme following its National Vision 2030.
The Technical Cooperation Programme is the IAEA's primary mechanism for transferring nuclear technology to member states, helping them to address key development priorities in areas such as health and nutrition, food and agriculture, water and the environment, industrial applications, and nuclear knowledge development.
Under the programme, the Minister said that Qatar has established Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories (SSDLs) to calibrate all types of radiometric measuring devices, which is considered the largest of its kind in the region to include all different types of calibrations, to protect humans and the environment from the dangers of ionising radiation.
He noted that the IAEA has accredited laboratories in Qatar as international training centres in radiation medicine and food safety, through a memorandum of practical arrangements.
“The procedures for naming Hamad Medical Corporation as an“Anchor Center” have begun to support the IAEA's“Rays of Hope” initiative, which aims to provide treatment for cancer patients for all, especially developing countries,” said the Minister.
He also noted the regional project“Contributing to the Global Monitoring of Marine Plastic Pollution”, within the Agency's initiative“Nuclear Technology to Combat Plastic Pollution (Nutech Plastic)”.
The Minister stressed that the country would benefit from technical cooperation with the agency, through a regional project to support national and regional capabilities within the framework of the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC) initiative.
At the regional and international level, the Minister said that Qatar is participating in 10 economic and social projects, within the ARASIA projects, which aim to build capabilities and training to meet the common priority needs of the Arab countries in Asia.
Program Management Officer at IAEA Linda Eid said that the technical cooperation program between Qatar and the Agency, which began in 2005, includes 37 projects at the national level.
The new programme also includes three projects directed to support national efforts in medical imaging (PET-MRI), livestock, and management of radioactive waste resulting from the oil and gas sector.
Eid praised the success achieved by Qatar in developing medical capabilities at Hamad Medical Corporation and developing and expanding the National Food Safety Laboratory.
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