Developing Strategies for Cancer Care

One size doesn’t fit all in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Machines that are heralded as breakthroughs in technological wizardry in developed countries may not be equally beneficial to patients in low and middle income states.

This is why more than 400 cancer therapy specialists from 100 countries are meeting in Vienna during 27-29 April at an IAEA event to discuss modern techniques in radiation treatment and how to apply them in developing countries. Major national and international organizations in the field of radiation oncology are also taking part in the conference. This event will benefit developing countries by putting things into perspective.

Many of the advances in radiation oncology that are unveiled at international forums every year are not only expensive but untried and sometimes even experimental. It’s more crucial for developing countries to understand which of the current treatments and approaches can be best applied considering the challenges they face, like limited human and financial resources. The meeting is expected to promote information sharing between low, middle and high income countries, so that cancer care can be improved in the long term (IAEA News).

Nuclear knowledge is available online - free

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is making its International Nuclear Information System (INIS) available for free to Internet users around the world. Established in 1970, the INIS processes most of the world’s scientific and technical literature on a wide range of subjects from nuclear engineering, safeguards and non-proliferation to applications in agriculture and health. It is the world’s leading database on the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.

The information provided in INIS comes from reliable sources like the national atomic energy authorities in Member States. As such, it can be trusted by the end user.

Following a pilot test project, free, open and unrestricted access to the INIS Online Database is now available from the INIS homepage to all internet users worldwide. No registration is required.

New ICRP Draft Report for consultation

Preventing Accidental Exposures from New External Beam Radiation Therapy Technologies - New ICRP Draft Report

The work of the Task Group formed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) to address “Preventing Accidental Exposures from New External Beam Radiation Therapy Technologies” is nearing completion. This draft has been posted in the ICRP site for public consultation. Because of the nature of the report, the Commission has decided on this occasion to use an accelerated consultation and production process. Therefore, the consultation period will be for 2 months only, instead of the usual 3 months. The comments must be entered on the ICRP’s consultation page no later than Friday 24 April, 2009 in order for the ICRP to be able to take them into account in the final report.

India Safeguards Agreement Signed at Vienna (2 February, 2009)

An Agreement between the Government of India and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities was signed today in Vienna by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and Ambassador Saurabh Kumar of India.

The safeguards agreement, which is the result of several rounds of consultations conducted between India and the IAEA since November 2007, was approved by the IAEA Board of Governors in August 2008. The agreement will enter into force on the date the IAEA receives from India written notification that its statutory and/or constitutional requirements for entry into force have been met.

The IAEA currently applies safeguards to six nuclear reactors in India under safeguards agreements concluded between 1971 and 1994. In the future, additional reactors are expected to be under IAEA safeguards under the newly-signed agreement (Source: IAEA News).

Pakistan’s nukes are threat to the world

One of the biggest challenges to the Barack Obama’s Administration is to ensure safety of the Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal in case of a possible collapse of Pakistan. Pakistan is the hub for the fundamentalist violence and camps for training in terrorist activities. The nuclear weapons or “dirty bombs” (basically a radioactivity dispersal device) may even land in the hands of fundamentalists or Jihadis. Under the present scenario of uncertain political leadership in Pakistan, world community should be concerned about possible misadventure from Pakistan’ army chief. The control of nuclear weapons with the army is not strategically desirable for India.

Tough-line diplomacy by India and other world leaders can only make Pakistan leaders to see reason and ensure that the nuclear weapons and radioactive materials are in safe custody of the civilian government and would not fall into the wrong hands.

Indian nuclear deals for whose gain?

The Bush administration helped the American companies to sell their nuclear reactors and other nuclear-related components to India. Similar story goes with France, Russia and a few more countries. Others thus get the business at whose cost? Of course, at the cost of India. India may get a few more nuclear power reactors, which may not increase its percentage nuclear contribution after 8 to 10 years, when the demand also would have increased to a great extent. But, India will be giving over US$100 billion business to these countries! These countries were without much nuclear business for a long time.

This may result ultimately in stagnation of India’s own R & D activities in nuclear fuel cycle operations. NEED is the mother of invention. When there is no need, why spend time & money on developmental activities. That means commercialization of India’s “hard-earned” thorium fuel cycle operations will be a few decades away from now.

India should also work seriously to commercialize other non-conventional energy sources, like wind, solar, and geo-thermal, so that additional future requirements will be met by the mix of energy sources other than fast-depleting fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

Nuclear Fuel Bank Initiative by IAEA Receives Crucial EU Support

The European Union (EU) recently pledged Euro 25 million ($32 million) towards a nuclear fuel bank proposal to be placed under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s control. The EU pledge, along with those by Norway, the United Arab Emirates and the USA shows growing momentum for a new more equitable framework for nuclear energy, says IAEA Director General. The pledge is a boost for the initiative originally launched by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in 2006.

Enriched uranium provides the fuel for many of the world´s nuclear power reactors, and the enrichment process is a vital process in a multi-step nuclear fuel cycle. The enrichment of uranium, while a necessary step in the creation of the fuel that power many of the world´s civilian nuclear reactors, can also be employed for use in nuclear weapons.

An IAEA fuel bank would guarantee supply of nuclear fuel and reactor services to bona fide States and protect them from politically motivated disruption of supply while at the same time minimizing the risk of nuclear proliferation through dissemination of the enrichment technologies. This initiative will provide necessary support for countries like India in case of withdrawal of nuclear cooperation by the partners in the recently signed nuclear deals, for some reason or the other.