National Agency for the Regulation of Nuclear and Radiological Activities (National Agency) ,
organized in 2007, is a specialized administrative authority established by the Government under the Ministry of Environment with the status of a legal entity under public law, which has a stamp with the image of the State Coat of Arms, a name in Romanian, treasury accounts. The National Agency is delegated the right to independently exercise the regulatory functions provided for by the respective organic law.
Although the Republic of Moldova is not a nuclear state, nuclear technologies are widely used in a number of branches of the national economy, bringing with them a social and economic benefit. Ionizing radiation is used in multiple human activities - medicine (diagnosis, treatment), radiobiology, induction of mutations in selection, non-destructive industrial control, scanning of goods entering and leaving the country, including the detection of smuggling of explosive materials, drugs, etc. Likewise, it is impossible to underestimate the priorities of ionizing radiation in such areas as inhibition, disinfestation, inactivation of harmful parasitic or saprophytic organisms, microbial decontamination and sterilization of various types of products and use in scientific research.
In the Republic of Moldova in recent years, with the enormous support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the most modern nuclear technologies have been implemented or are in the implementation phase. Thus, at the National Institute of Oncology, several cancer treatment systems using radiological and nuclear methods have been launched, including a linear accelerator for the treatment of oncological patients, a nuclear medicine laboratory. At the National Institute of Metrology, a high-performance laboratory for calibrating systems for measuring radiation field parameters - dosimeters, radiometers, flowmeters, etc. has been put into operation. Other technology transfer projects are underway, such as the treatment of radioactive waste for the purpose of keeping it in safe conditions, the implementation of cutting-edge diagnostic technologies (SPECT/CT/PET) at the Republican Clinical Hospital. We continue in 2021, with the support of partners from Sweden, the United States of America and the European Commission, the implementation of various projects to strengthen nuclear physical security capacities and counter illicit trafficking in radioactive and nuclear materials.
The extensive implementation of new nuclear technologies in various branches of the economy has re-updated the subject of nuclear safety, nuclear culture as a whole. WHO, IAEA note with concern that the insufficiency of professional culture in the field in recent years leads to medical overexposures, therefore to unjustified exposures, the share of which is about 30%. Our country is no exception in this field. The determining factor in this is the increasingly wide accessibility of new nuclear technologies associated with the insufficiency of nuclear and radiological safety culture, insufficient operational safety and professional training.
Our common goal, of those involved in nuclear and radiological regulation in the country, is to promote updated legislation and aligned with the requirements of IAEA and Euratom safety standards, compliance with legislation and the cultivation of an adequate radiological safety culture.
With the support of partners from the IAEA, the USA and the European Union, we periodically organize national and international seminars, exercises and actions to prevent and eliminate radiological incidents in the republic. Annually, with the multifaceted support of the IAEA, we promote about 35 people from various authorities and institutions for training in advanced centers outside the country.
During its existence (since June 2007), ANRANR has carried out an intense activity of normative and institutional consolidation of all nuclear and radiological activities in the Republic of Moldova, contributing together with the other institutions involved to the development and fulfillment of the objectives established within the framework of national sustainable development programs by using advanced technologies with a minimal impact on health and the environment.
ANRANR represents the interests of the national nuclear and radiological security field externally by cultivating a relationship of representation, collaboration and mediation with the IAEA and other relevant international organizations, materialized by the signing of the third Country Framework Program in September 2005.
In this context, the foundation was laid in the Republic of Moldova for the regulation and coordination of the authorization process, state supervision and control of radiological and nuclear activities based on the introduction of the system of categorization of radioactive sources depending on their degree of danger and risk factor, a process that provides the necessary transparency to users in the authorization procedure and registration in the National Register of given activities, and ultimately, creates favorable premises for aligning the legislative framework with European Union standards and honoring obligations under international conventions to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.
The system of regulation of these activities also extends to areas related to state security by ensuring the physical protection of national nuclear and radiological objectives, the main purpose of which is to exclude the possibility of losing control over radioactive sources or nuclear material - a very important element in preventing illicit trafficking in radioactive materials, including nuclear. This element is crucial in the system of ensuring the control of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons within the framework of the Nuclear Safeguards Agreement in relation to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, ratified on October 26, 1993 by the Republic of Moldova.
With the technical assistance of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Register of sources of ionizing radiation is formed and maintained, ensuring the authorization of nuclear and radiological activities, state control and supervision. Currently, the National Agency keeps under control any source - from entry into the country, placement, commissioning, maintenance - to disposal, storage or export from the country. Thus, since the establishment of the Nuclear Agency in 2007, about 550 authorized economic entities have been registered, about 2630 permissive acts have been issued, about 10000 radioactive sources, generators and associated equipment, as well as nuclear materials have been registered, and over 3200 orphan radioactive sources have been consolidated.
The National Agency in its activity will continue to provide educational, training, and improvement policies, including through practical exercises, to improve the national legislative framework in the nuclear, radiological, and non-proliferation fields. The new functions of non-proliferation supervision pose new tasks to the officials of the National Agency. Taking into account the limited human resources of the National Agency, it is an indisputable imperative to ensure efficient cooperation with experts in the country, regardless of departmental subordination, with an extremely important common final goal - the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and compliance with the international commitments of the Republic of Moldova.
In order to ensure the promotion, development and monitoring of the international partnership, ANRANR collaborates with the IAEA), the US Department of State, the US Department of Energy, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Swedish Radiological Safety Authority, the National Nuclear Control Commission of Romania, the nuclear regulatory bodies of the GUAM member countries, the Radiation Protection Center of Lithuania, as well as with other international and/or regional organizations in the field, by concluding agreements in its field of activity, by approving and monitoring the implementation of technical assistance programs carried out in accordance with the country framework agreement concluded with the IAEA, as well as by the participation of institutions and economic agents operating in the given field in the activities carried out under the aegis of the IAEA.
The exercise of the functions of regulating nuclear and radiological activities and the supervision of non-proliferation are expressly provided for in Organic Law No. 132 on the safe conduct of nuclear and radiological activities (Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova No. 229-233 of November 2, 2012), and Government Decision No. 458 of July 24, 2015 for the approval of the Regulation on the organization and functioning of the National Agency for the Regulation of Nuclear and Radiological Activities, its structure and staff limit supports the implementation of the aforementioned law.
In addition, for the regulation of various fields of activity, ANRANR, together with other public and non-governmental authorities, specific regulations have been developed and approved by the Government, which can be consulted in the "Legislation" section.
The statutory functions of the National Agency are the following:
a) development and implementation of the state policy in the nuclear and radiological field, consultation with public authorities according to their competences, development of draft policies, national strategies, the legal framework with their promotion in the order established by the legislation and adoption of measures for the efficient regulation of nuclear and radiological activities;
b) monitoring the implementation and execution of the provisions of international treaties in the field to which the Republic of Moldova is a party and of the national legislation in the field;
c) development and promotion in the order established by the legislation and by Art. 7 of this Law of legislative acts and other normative acts in the field;
d) registration based on notification of nuclear and radiological activities, authorization of these activities based on the assessment of the application for radiological authorization and compliance with the conditions of radiation protection, nuclear and radiological safety, physical security of nuclear and radiological facilities and nuclear safeguards;
e) carrying out state control and supervision to verify the conditions of nuclear and radiological safety, physical security of nuclear and radiological facilities, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and relevant technologies and equipment;
f) drawing up control acts and issuing necessary prescriptions, drawing up and examining reports on contraventions in the field of nuclear and radiological activities, applying mandatory coercive measures to be executed against natural and legal persons;
g) ensuring the transparency of the decision-making process in the regulation of nuclear and radiological activities;
h) issuing and/or recognizing safety certificates for installations with ionizing radiation sources (equipment, packaging, containers or means of transport for radioactive sources, including radioactive waste) in accordance with this law;
i) attesting or recognizing experts in the nuclear and radiological field, with the issuance of a level III practice permit;
j) assessment of knowledge, issuance or recognition of level I, II practice permits, issued by entities recognized by the National Agency, to personnel working in the nuclear or radiological field and to radiation protection officials;
k) proposal for amendment and/or completion of normative acts when it is necessary to correlate them with treaties and international standards in the field;
l) management of the National Register of ionizing radiation sources and authorized individuals and legal entities;
m) provision of free assistance in detecting orphan radioactive sources;
n) recognition of technical support organizations, national and international experts, certification and training institutions by including them in the respective register and by publishing them on the National Agency's website;
o) coordination and monitoring of the implementation of international technical assistance projects for the fields of nuclear and radiological safety, radiation protection and physical security;
p) signing, in the manner established by law, bilateral or multilateral agreements with similar authorities in third countries;
q) preparing and submitting national reports to relevant international bodies in accordance with international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party;
r) participating as an intrinsic part of the national response system in the event of a nuclear or radiological emergency;
s) representing as a national regulatory body - national point of contact with the IAEA within the framework of international treaties in the nuclear and radiological field, with nuclear regulatory bodies from third countries.
In order to adequately respond to radiological or nuclear incidents, ANRANR has established a mobile team of experts in the field of nuclear expertise EME equipped with advanced equipment for the detection and identification of nuclear or radioactive material. Receiving the warning signal via the internet or telephone from the Customs Service, the Border Police or the National Emergency Center - 112 by telephone from any individual (022 31 11 36) is ensured 24/7.