The Second Train the Trainers Training (TTT) event, with participation of 22 national experts from Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Zambia; Uganda and Tanzania was successfully concluded. The TTT was organised at the headquarters of the Tanzanian Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) in Arusha, Tanzania from 01 to 12 April 2019. The TTT course was conducted by four instructors from ENCO and SCK●CEN.
The TTT course was conducted over 11 training days and contained 10 Modules as follows: 1) Basic radiation safety and radiation protection measures, 2) Management of radioactive sources, 3) Equipment used for radiation safety control, detection, search, identification and recovery of radioactive sources, 4) International recommendations on security of radioactive sources, 5) Carrying out the regulatory security inspections of radioactive sources, 6) International recommendations on the national legal and regulatory framework for nuclear security, 7) Prevention of illicit trafficking of radioactive and nuclear material, 8) International recommendations on the security of Uranium Oxide Concentrates (UOC), 9) International recommendations on the preparedness and response to RN emergency events and 10) Planning, preparing and conducting training courses.
The Days 1 and 2 were dedicated to Module 1 (Basic radiation safety and radiation protection measures) and Module 2 (Management of radioactive sources), during which presentations were given by the Consortium instructors. The Day 3 was focused on measurement equipment (Module 3), where presentations were first given to introduce the measurement principles and the measurement techniques. The presentations were followed by a demonstration by the instructors and then by practical exercises performed by the participants themselves in groups of 5-6 attendees. In addition, each group prepared a 10-minute demonstration of a chosen measurement instrument, followed by 5 minutes questions from the other groups as well as from the instructors.
The Day 4 was dedicated to Module 4 (International recommendations on the security of radioactive sources), during which presentations were given by the instructors. In addition, one Case study was provided to the participants to allow them to apply the given knowledge for a practical situation (enhancing the security measures of a hypothetical facility to reach the IAEA security sub-goals for the relevant security level). The participants were grouped by countries and assigned to resolve the Case study. Each group was requested to prepare a presentation and show their results for the Case study. The presentations were made on Day 6 and were followed by a Q&A session.
The Day 5 was dedicated to Module 5 (Carrying out the regulatory security inspections of radioactive sources). Some presentations were given by the instructors and, in addition, the participants divided in country groups were requested to develop a Security inspection plan. On the Day 6, the presentations on Module 6 (International recommendations on the national legal and regulatory framework for nuclear security) were given by the instructors. Part of the Day 6 was also dedicated to the presentations of the Case study of Module 4.
During the Day 7, the participants were divided in three groups, to perform an exercise of a security inspection visit at the radioactive waste storage facility at TAEC. Each group was accompanied by an instructor and a TAEC representative to guide the security inspection. The remaining of the day was dedicated to presentations on Module 6 (International recommendations on the national legal and regulatory framework for nuclear security). In addition, the participants were requested to develop the main elements of the Standard Operating Procedures for the Security inspections, to reflect the experience gained during the security inspection performed at the radioactive waste facility.
Day 8 and 9 were focused on Module 7 (Prevention of illicit trafficking of radioactive and nuclear material), Module 8 (International recommendations on the security of Uranium Oxide Concentrates) and Module 9 (International recommendations on the preparedness and response to RN emergency events). The first part of Day 8 was dedicated to presentations on the results of the Security inspections. In addition, Case studies were performed by the participants on themes of the Modules 7 and 9, and subsequently presented.
The Days 10 and 11 were dedicated to Module 10 (Planning, preparing and conducting training courses). The focus of the activities was on participants’ individual preparation for their roles as future trainers. On their own choice of a topic, the participants were asked to develop the description, the agenda, the required entry knowledge, the objectives and the procedures to be followed in a one-day training. The participants reported on their preparations in the last day through a 10-minute presentation of the training course. In addition, each participant was requested to prepare a 10-minute presentation on a specific topic foreseen in their training course, which they also gave during the last day of the TTT course. The instructors as well as the other participants provided feedback, on both the content and the training skills.
Time was set aside during each training day for discussions on the themes of the training day. After each Case study or exercise presentation, the instructors gave recommendations to improve the results. The day following the completion of presentation on each Module, a test was conducted to evaluate the knowledge acquired. The results of the test’s evaluation were then discussed with all the participants, to allow them to identify the elements on which they would need to further work to acquire the necessary knowledge as relevant for the specific Module.
On the very first day of the TTT, an entry test was conducted to assess the initial knowledge of all participants. At the end of the TTT course, a final test was conducted, showing the level of knowledge gained. The comparison between the average score for both tests clearly showed that the participants improved their knowledge quite significantly, rising from 41.1% to 62.7% on all the topics of the TTT course. When assessing only the security topics, the average score improved from 36.2 % (entry test) to 62.4 % (final test). For the remaining topics, the average score improved from 45.1% (entry test) to 64.6 % (final test).
All the participants were very motivated by the training provided. In particular they were highly interested and worked hard on the Case studies, use of detection equipment, inspection activities and related reporting presentations. They were also dedicated and performed well when demonstrating their skills as future trainers.
