ArmInfo.The National Assembly of Armenia at the meeting on January 19 ratified the agreement on information interaction of the CIS member states on the movement of radioactive sources.
As the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Vardanyan noted in his speech, Armenia attaches great importance to the goals of security in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy and further strengthening of cooperation with the CIS countries in the field of nuclear and radiation safety. The Deputy Minister stressed that the ratification of the agreement signed on June 7, 2016 provides for information cooperation between the CIS states in the transfer of information on the movement of radioactive sources, assistance in the detection and prevention of violations in their transfer, implementation of procedures for the classification of radioactive substances, provision of protective measures, and also the implementation of measures for their unauthorized use.
The ratification of the document will strengthen cooperation between the competent authorities of the Republic of Armenia and the CIS countries, contribute to the improvement of safety in the field of nuclear power. The authorized body for the implementation of the agreement will be the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia, and the classification of radioactive sources will be carried out by the Nuclear Safety Committee.
The subject of this agreement is to ensure information interaction of the CIS states when radioactive sources with radionuclide activity are moved from the territory of one state to the territory of another state. In order to ensure control over the implementation of the agreement, it is envisaged to form a Commission on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The parties will assist each other in identifying and suppressing violations of the procedure for the movement of radioactive sources in accordance with the categorization of radioactive sources recommended by the IAEA. The competent authorities of the parties maintain national registers of radioactive sources containing information on radioactive sources. The structure of the register and the volume of data on radioactive sources are determined by the parties, based on their national interests, taking into account the standard requirements for registers approved by the commission. This agreement does not apply to radioactive sources used for military purposes. Within the framework of this agreement, the exchange of information constituting a state secret of the states parties to this Agreement is not carried out. The Commission coordinates the work on the implementation of this agreement and, if necessary, organizes consultations for the purpose of information interaction on the movement of radioactive sources.