KACST recently completed training and qualifying more than 100 male and female trainees, representing various governmental and private sectors on the safe dealing with ionized radiations and principles of protection from these radiations. The training and qualifying took place within the framework of activities of the 16th   Basic Training Course for protection from ionized radiations held annually by KACST Atomic Energy Research Institute.

Lectures of the course were presented by specialists from the Atomic Energy Research Institute and specialists in protection from ionized radiations, through which lecturers were keen to fulfill requirements according to national standards besides indentifying trainees with dangers of atomic contaminations and ways to eliminate them.

The training course tackled safety principles and procedures when using radioactive sources, basic principles of the program of protection from radiation, safe transport of radioactive elements within the institution, management of radioactive wastes, radioactive emergency plan within the institution and national instructions of protection from radiations.

Principles of Radiation and Radioactive Activity, was one of the main topics of the training course. This included lectures about principles of atom and nucleus, radioactive activity, types of radiations and their reaction with the substance, types of industrial radioactive elements and their varied uses in industry, medicine and scientific research in addition to natural radioactive sources.

At the end of the training course, all trainers and trainees held a general discussion symposium through which they discussed topics of the course. Trainees also paid a visit to laboratories of the Atomic Energy Research Institute through which they identified the role of the institute in the field of protection from radiation besides studies and research proposals in this scope.