Vietnam: Security of radioactive source, nuclear material and equipment

According to Article 22 of the Law on Atomic Energy 2008 of Vietnam, organizations and individuals that have radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment shall apply the following security measures:

- Controlling access to their radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment;

- Disallowing unauthorized individuals to access their radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment;

- Enacting their licenses' provisions on control of radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment;

- Subjecting the transfer of radioactive sources or nuclear material within an radiation facility to written permission of the head of the facility or an authorized person, and recording the transfer in a minutes;

- Conducting regular checking and counting at least once a year to ensure that their radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment are properly placed under security conditions;

- Keeping confidential security measures, unless otherwise provided for by law.

Apart from complying with the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, organizations and individuals that manage radioactive sources of medium or higher level of danger, or manage nuclear material or equipment shall:

- Work out security plans;

- Promptly detect and prevent unauthorized access to radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment;

- Promptly apply necessary measures to recover radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment which have been illegally appropriated, transferred or used;

- Promptly prevent any sabotage against radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment: work out plans on monthly, weekly or daily checking and counting under the guidance of the radiation and nuclear safety agency;

- Adopt plans to mitigate hazards caused by sabotaged radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment;

- Keep confidential information on the security system, unless otherwise provided for by law.

The radiation and nuclear safety agency shall develop and regularly update an information system to control radioactive sources, nuclear material and equipment nationwide, containing the following information:

- Types of radioactive sources, nuclear material and equipment;

- Identification numbers of radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment and protective containers:

- Radioisotope names, for radioactive sources; chemical compositions, for nuclear material;

- Radioactivity and date of radioactivity determination, for radioactive sources; amount of plutonium or uranium, for nuclear material;

- Manufacturers or suppliers;

- Certificates of origin;

- Owners;

- Organizations and individuals that are storing or using radioactive sources, nuclear material or equipment;

- Organizations and individuals that previously stored or used radioactive sources, nuclear material and equipment;

- Addresses of places where radioactive sources, nuclear material and equipment are stored or used.

The classification of radioactive sources according to their level of danger (below medium, medium or above medium) complies with national technical regulations.

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