The Government, through the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, recently concluded the Technical Meeting of the RCA Regulators Forum on 7 August 2008, capping a three-day session which saw the Philippines, in the person of Ms. Eulinia M. Valdezco, PNRI Regulatory Chief, chairing the fifteen-country gathering. (Malaysia and China, which would have completed the 17 Member States of the RCA, were not able to send their delegates).
The Forum is an outcome of a 2007 meeting held in Vienna, Austria which established a Regional Forum of Regulators as part of efforts to maintain a robust regulatory infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region, provide an environment of mutual support to radiation protection initiatives, and ensure the viability of a network of authorities exchanging relevant information and experiences.
The Philippines, as Chair of the Regulators Forum, joins Australia, India, Malaysia and Vietnam as part of the Steering Committee that is tasked to facilitate the active exchange of communication among the Forum’s members, ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the project’s activities, review its accomplishments and formulate recommendations to guide the project’s future direction.
This year’s Meeting, hosted by the Philippines, gave the opportunity to identify regional concerns and potential solutions in a number of priority areas of regulatory infrastructure (including public exposure control), occupational exposure control, medical exposure control, and radiological emergency preparedness and response.
A two-year action plan was also developed, which sets sights on the review of the project’s progress prior to the Forum’s next meeting in 2010, enhancement of the utilization of the Radiation Safety Regulators Network or the RaSaRen, and the establishment of a self-funding mechanism for the activities of the Forum.
Prior to the Technical Meeting of the Regulators Forum, tow events were also hosted by the Philippines under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy (IAEA). These were the Regional Training Course on Strategy and Methodologies for the Development of Low and Intermediate Level Waste Disposal Facilities held in June, and the Training Course on the Establishment of Limitations and Controls on Effluent Discharges and Associated Regulatory Review & Control held on the last week of July.
