The Kingdom’s hospitals are becoming safer places as part of an ongoing project to protect radioactive materials and equipment. Radioactive sources have been secured at Al Bashir Hospital, the Gamma Knife Centre and the King Hussein Cancer Centre under a joint US-Jordan project, the Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission (JNRC) announced on Sunday.As part of cooperation between the JNRC and the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Global Threat Reduction, the hospitals were equipped with the latest surveillance, communications and early warning systems in order to secure radiological devices and radioactive sources from theft or misuse.  In its second phase, set to commence “soon”, the project will cover the University of Jordan Hospital, the King Abdullah I Hospital in Irbid and the Royal Medical Services, the commission indicated. The health institutions are currently evaluating their equipment and apparatuses as well as radioactive sources, the commission added.

The JNRC, which oversees the project, is providing training to hospital staff on security and protection systems, as well as system maintenance. Radioactive sources are widely used in many medical facilities and are commonly available in nuclear facilities, requiring the control and accountability of these sources from safety and health perspectives, the commission stressed.