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Four of PNRI's staff, headed by Regulatory Chief Ms. Eulinia Valdezco, shared the limelight with three officials from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) when they collectively clinched the Best Poster Paper Award at the Australasian Radiation Protection Society Conference held in Canberra.

The paper, which focuses on "Regional Cooperation To Reduce The Safety And Security Risks Of Orphan Radioactive Sources Through Sustainable Training Methods", was co-authored by Geoffrey Howard*, Celia Hacker*, Kristine Marie Romallosa, Estrella Caseria, Lorena Africa-del Castillo, Eulinia Valdezco, and Allan Murray*. It highlights the impact and benefits of the cooperation between ANSTO and PNRI in their mutual effort to secure radioactive sources, particularly under the framework of the Regional Security of Radioactive Sources (RSRS) project.

The regional project pays specific attention to reducing the safety- and security- risks associated with lost or stolen radioactive sources, and has translated to equipment delivery, provision of training and valuable support towards the conduct of a partnership mission and a national workshop on orphan source searches.

The Australasian Radiation Protection Society, which conferred the award, is a professional forum for Australian and the regional community fostering the exchange of ideas on issues and challenges in the areas of radiation safety, health and the environment. A certificate emanating from the Society will soon be issued to the co-authors in cognizance of their work.

At the same time, the poster paper is slated for presentation at the upcoming International Radiation Protection Association Conference which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the week of 19 October. The Philippines, through the local IRPA associate society – the Philippine Association for Radiation Protection – will be participating in the 12th Conference of the IRPA and has, in fact, been invited to chair the Session on “National Infrastructures” under the scientific theme, “Developing the Radiation Protection Framework”.

* Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization

Details

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute is pleased to announce that it is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Nuclear S&T Award, a distinction given to individuals or group of individuals in recognition for dedication and service to the understanding, promotion, and application of nuclear science and technology including nuclear safety with a definable body of work in each of the following fields:

  • Health and Medicine
  • Food and Agriculture
  • Industry, Energy and Environment Radiation Safety
  • Technology Transfer and Services
  • Education, Training and Publication Information
  • Research

The awards will be presented during the 50th PNRI Anniversary Celebration coinciding with this year's Atomic Energy Week Celebration on December 8-12, 2008.

Candidate's contributions include, but are not limited to: service, publications, presentations and projects. The general criteria for screening the candidates are as follows:

a. Significance, relevance to national needs (30%)
b. Creativity, ingenuity, innovativeness, resourcefulness of approach, idea or techniques (25%)
c. Practicability, applicability, impact, communicability, timeliness (20%)
d. Technical soundness and accuracy (20%)
e. Length of time devoted to the promotion of Nuclear S&T (5%)

The nomination is open to all Filipino citizens or a group of Filipino citizens and a resident of the Philippines at the time of nomination. The nomination can be made by any individual or groups. To be eligible for the award, the nominee must be actively involved in the field. Only one award can be given to an individual.

Person/group/organization nominating candidates shall provide the Committee with a letter of nomination and duly accomplished nomination form to be submitted not later than November 22, 2008. The form is available at the PNRI website (http://www.pnri.dost.gov.ph) Download Forms section and can be provided upon request addressed to Awards Committee, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Nominations can be submitted to the same email address (electronic submission is encouraged). If mailed, it must be postmarked by November 18, 2008, and received at PNRI no later than November 22, 2008. Kindly mark all accompanying documents with the name of the nominee.

The Award Committee will screen nominations and identify finalists for each of the award categories. The recipient will then be chosen from among these finalists by an Award Selection Board consisting of members of the PNRI Senior Staff and the president or designated representative of the organizations and societies (PSNT, RSP, PSNM, PARP, POMP, POS). If a member of the Awards Committee or the Award Selection Board is a nominee, he/she is will not participate in the deliberations for the particular award category he/she is nominated for.

An award will be presented in the identified category ONLY if there is a suitable nominee meeting all the required criteria. Decisions to present or not present awards are made by the Award Selection Board and are final.

The nominations must be received by November 22, 2008.

Send nominations to:

2008 Awards Committee
c/o Elvira Sombrito or Linda Leopando
Philippine Nuclear research Institute
Commonwealth Ave., Diliman, Quezon City 1101
Tel 9296011 local 234, 225

Send e-nominations to:

Elvira Sombrito, Chair, Awards Committee
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details

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.

Details

Fueled by the desire to Outreach, Outthink, and Outdo, PNRI's Nuclear Regulations, Licensing and Safeguards Division (NRLSD) is conducting this year a Nuclear Safety Caravan that has so far held four provincial sorties since it was launched in March.

The caravan is a public information and education campaign that seeks to promote the open exchange of safety and security information among various stakeholders who are involved in the peaceful use of radioactive materials in the Philippines.

The campaign has brought the NRLSD staff, led by its Chief, Ms. Eulinia Valdezco, to venues such as Iloilo, Cebu, Baguio and Laguna for stakeholder interaction focusing on newly-published CPRs (Code of PNRI Regulations), criteria and other regulatory guidance documents. Bataan, Pampanga, Davao will see the next provincial round of the caravan.

Apart from the awareness seminar, demonstration on the use of modern detectors and lectures to teachers and students are also being conducted by the NRLSD team.

The aim to OUTREACH means seeking to extend the coverage of regulatory services to areas outside of Metro Manila; the aim to OUTTHINK is to further gain competence in the conduct of such information campaigns; and the aim to OUTDO spells out the goal to surpass performance in terms of strategies in the dissemination of information to licensees and other stakeholders.

The caravan is made possible by the Department of Science and Technology Grants-in-Aid (DOST-GIA) Programme and was conceptualized as a strategic tool for the efficient and effective dissemination of technical knowledge pertaining to the various Code of PNRI Regulations to further enhance the effective implementation of the National Regulatory Control Program for radioactive material use and applications.