Brief summary first Expert Mission for Burundi in Kampala, Uganda 14 – 15 January 2019

The Expert Mission for Burundi, in frame of CoE Project 60, took place in Kampala, Uganda from 14 to 15 January 2019. Three national representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Water, Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Public Security and Disaster Management participated in the meeting. Two experts of the Consortium (ENCO, SCK•CEN and STUK) implemented the mission.

The main objectives of the mission were to collect information on the status and issues of interest for the areas covered by P 60.

Burundi has started to develop its legislative framework by drafting a Law on the peaceful use of nuclear energy in 2014, which has gone through a review process since then. The Law is in the administrative process at their government and needs to be approved (by the government first and then by the Parliament). This Law will be the basis for future work on the safe and secure management (regulatory framework, inventory, …) of RN materials in Burundi. The coordination of the different institutions involved in this matter could be enhanced and the roles and responsibilities should be well defined. Burundi has different agreements with neighboring countries on for example transport. As the national Law on nuclear energy will be the base for the future work on the safe and secure management of RN material, the Consortium experts reviewed thoroughly the draft Law with the national experts to make sure that the Law will cover all necessary elements (based on international recommendations). This review was highly appreciated by the national experts, as this will provide a solid basis for their future work in this field.

Burundi has not yet a regulatory authority for control of radioactive materials, which means also that there are not yet authorization, inspection and enforcement processes, national inventory of radioactive sources, standard operating procedures for control of radioactive material, management of disused sources and program for search and management of orphan sources.

Burundi has identified potential radioactive sources as well as Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in the country. An exhaustive inventory of RN materials has not yet been established, as this will be performed by the regulatory authority as soon as the regulatory framework will exist. The Consortium experts recommended to initiate a first investigation on the inventory of RN materials by contacting potential users (hospitals, mines, construction companies, …).

Burundi has an overall response organization in case of all-hazards and CBRN emergencies. An all-hazards emergency response plan and a draft CBRN emergency response plan exist and both plans have been exercised a few times. There is not yet a RN emergency response plan in Burundi.

There is very limited number of detection equipment and related training in Burundi.

At the end of the meeting, the upcoming activities in CoE P60, in which Burundi will be involved, were discussed.