Background
Until the 1950s, only radionuclides of natural origin, such as Radium-226 – an isotope of radium used to treat some types of cancers – were available for use. Today, radionuclides artificially produced in nuclear facilities and accelerators, including Caesium-137, Colbalt-60, and Iridium-192, are used globally for medical, industrial, agricultural, research, and educational purposes.
The International Catalogue of Sealed Radioactive Sources and Devices (ICSRS) contains information on upwards of 5,000 different types of radioactive sources, 4,000 radioactive devices, and over 1,000 manufacturers or suppliers.[1]
Measures taken by countries to ensure the safety and security of radioactive sources are designed to reduce the risk of malicious use of radioactive sources based on a threat assessment and risk reduction based on the development of suitable legal, regulatory, compliance and inspection systems in relation to radioactive sources.
Typically, in smaller organisations staff responsible for radiation protection and radiation safety are expected to ensure the security of the radioactive sources as well. As young professionals enter fields where the safety and security of radioactive sources need to be assured, it is important that they understand available professional development options available to them to support their competence in radioactive source security management.
[1] https://www.iaea.org/resources/databases/international-catalogue-of-sealed-radioactive-sources-and-devices
Objectives
Global radiological security requires a competent and professional workforce capable of facing challenging and increasingly complex scenarios. The current radiological and nuclear security sector workforce will need to embrace and enable the next generation of nuclear and radiological professionals with skills capable of adapting to changing scenarios, innovating, and making better decisions.
The overall objective of this rountable is to encourage and support the participation of early career professionals by inviting subject matter experts enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with and mentoring the next generation of experts to share good practices in an online rountable discussion to focus on:
- Practices of engagement with early career professionals
- Exploring ways to better engage with WINS networks and explore options available to support competence development in radioactive source security
- Discussing Certification opportunities offered through WINS Academy
- Learning what opportunities exist and are available to early career professionals
Audience
The main target audience of this roundtable are early career professionals engaged in radioactive source security in the context of:
- End-users
- Regulators
- Law enforcement agencies
- Emergency and response organisations
- Government officials
Process
Date: April 28, 2026
Time: 14:00-16:30 CET
This online event is interactive and facilitated by an expert practitioner. The event will include a number of presentations as well as case studies and opportunities for the audience to share their perspectives through voting and Q&A sessions. This event will be held in English. Certificates will be provided only upon request.
