08010424_1801
While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.
Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.
The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.
Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016
Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA
08010424_1801
While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.
Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.
The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.
Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016
Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA