The first Expert Mission to Kenya, in the frame of the CoE Project 60, took place in Nairobi from 21 to 24 May 2018. The twenty-one national participants (including four female participants) were staff of all main stakeholders of safety and security management and users of the radioactive sources. Three experts of the implementing Consortium (ENCO, SCK-CEN, and STUK) were also present at this mission.
The objectives of the mission were to collect information and assess the status in the areas of interest for the CoE project P 60. At the opening of the meeting, Mr. Joseph Maina, the Chairman of the Radiation Protection Board (RPB) introduced current arrangements and activities in relation with nuclear security in Kenya.
The RPB staff and other stakeholders described in detail the present status and difficulties of the radioactive source management in their areas of responsibilities. Similar to many other countries, control of the disused sources and in the search of the possible orphan sources, which were used before the radiation source management was established, remains a challenge. The basic security related laws have been developed: the draft Nuclear Regulatory Bill has been prepared for submission to Parliament and the new Disaster Management Bill has been approved this year. The need for support in the review of the underlying nuclear security regulations was identified. During the mission, ENCO expert installed and customized the new RAIS 3.4 to address all of the RPB needs and trained the regulatory staff to use RAIS.
The available radiation detection and identification equipment was assessed. The use of the available equipment and the need for the new equipment were discussed. Kenya is one of the PCs where the CBRN Emergency Response Plan was developed in frame of the CoE Project 17 and approved for the use. The national structure of the emergency response is adjusted to new arrangements. The CBRN Emergency Response Plan should be modified to reflect these changes, for which the support within P 60 has been requested.
The ENCO experts visited the new storage facility of the radioactive sources in Kenya and discussed with the facility operator and the RPB staff the security arrangements and provided recommendations.
