Transport and Waste Safety Directorate (WSD) at PNRA is responsible for matters related to radioactive waste management, safe transport of radioactive materials, physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear installations, safety and security of radioactive sources and decommissioning of nuclear installations. It establishes and maintains regulatory framework such as regulations, requirements, safety guides, internal procedures, inspection checklists etc in these areas and assures compliance of regulatory requirements by coordinating through joint regulatory inspections with our Regional Directorates. The recent IAEA RaSIA Mission of 2005 has observed that Pakistan has a well-developed legal infrastructure and effectively independent regulatory authority for regulating radiation safety and with an effective operational system of licensing, inspection and enforcement for the control of radiation sources which has continued to develop in line with international standards.
The safe management of radioactive waste for the protection of human health and the environment has given utmost importance and every user of radioactive material is instructed to manage the radioactive waste in a manner that protects human health and the environment now and in future without imposing undue burdens on future generations. PNRA also requires its licensees to adopt such technologies/methods that reduce the generation of radioactive waste.
The evaluation of the shipping documents for import and export of packages containing radioactive materials are carried out to confirm that the shipments meet national and international requirements for transportation.
The physical protection measures as reported by the operators are verified through ‘walk-downs’/ and inspections around nuclear power plants { CNPP-I at Mianwali and KANUPP at Karachi} and Research Reactors { PARR-1 and PARR-2 at PINSTECH, Islamabad}. The licensees have been advised to follow IAEA document INFCIRC/225/Rev-4 as regulatory requirement for physical protection.
WSD maintains the national registry of SRSs according to a five category source classification scheme and a four class further security considerations to keep track of the sources from cradle to grave. The Directorate has established channels with the national organizations for the effective control of radioactive materials/sources and preventing malicious acts against radiation facilities. A close coordination has been established with the Ministry of Commerce and Custom Authorities for controlling imports/exports of radioactive material/sources.
The Directorate is striving to bring the operator/utility and PNRA at a stage of common understanding regarding of waste safety and nuclear security culture at the working level and information exchange on these issues. WSD has been coordinating as well as participating in RAS related activities of IAEA for strengthening regulatory infrastructure in the country.