Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA
Staff members from CNL and TINT after the second Ra-226 repackaging (Photo: Archara Phattanasub/TINT)
“The IAEA has long championed the safe storage and disposal of disused sealed radioactive sources, which has always been appreciated and supported by Canada,” said Jack Craig, President and CEO of CNL. “However, their initiatives to assist donor nations in removing long-term liabilities while enabling a new radiotherapeutics industry is monumental. CNL is also grateful to the Kingdom of Thailand and our new international collaborators, TINT, for their contribution to this new class of cancer therapeutic drugs.”
TINT first reached out to the IAEA about this project in February 2022 and met with CNL later that year. After TINT confirmed the receipt of their export license in June 2023, over 70 packages of disused radium-226 were sent to Canada.
The international transfer of radioactive material is a multifaceted endeavour requiring close collaboration among several entities, including regulatory bodies (in Thailand, it is the Office of Atoms for Peace) and port authorities. Diligent work in radiation and contamination monitoring, source inspection, characterization and repackaging, is performed with IAEA support prior to shipment.
“Thailand, through TINT, has successfully transferred the radium-226 sources to Canada with great support and excellent coordination from the IAEA and relevant authorities of both countries,” said Thawatchai Onjun, Executive Director of TINT.
TINT constructed a dedicated radioactive waste storage facility at its Ongkharak site in 2013 which became functional in 2016. “Recycling these sources has multiple benefits for Thailand and is in line with circular economy objectives,” said Archara Phattanasub, Head of the Radioactive Waste Technology and Development Section in TINT. “This initiative has helped up significantly reduce the risk for any type of incident associated with these disused sources and freed up a lot of space in our national storage facility.”
Looking ahead, there are several more transfers planned for 2024 as part of this initiative. Shipments from Curaçao, El Salvador, Fiji and Slovenia are set to take place later this year. In December, the IAEA will host a technical meeting on the initiative to review progress, examine lessons learned and identify future opportunities for collaboration.
“The collaboration exhibited by CNL and TINT serves as a great example of how to effectively conduct complex source transportation operations with many moving parts,” said Mykolaichuk. “Fostering sustainable practices is a key element of the IAEA’s mandate, and we look forward to delivering on this initiative for many years to come.”