Under UNDP/RCA/IAEA Project (RAS/8/076) "Better Management of the Environment, Natural Resources and Industrial Growth through Isotopes and Radiation Technology"

Country Co-oridinator : Prof. Dr. Naiyyum Choudhury, Member, Boi-Science, BAEC

 4, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, GPO Box:158, Dhaka-1000 
 Fax 88-02-8613051    E-mail: baec@dhaka.agni.com

Projects Under Bangladesh 

Thematic Area 

[Health]     [Agriculture]  [Industry and Environment]    [Energy and Research Reactor/ Waste management]     [Radiation Protection]    [General]       

Health:

Agriculture:

         Application of food irradiation for food security, safety and trade.
          Irradiation as a sanitary and phytosanitary treatments of food.

Industry and Environment:

Tracer Technology and Nucleonic Control System 
Air Pollution and Its Trends  
Radiation processing applications for agro waste

Energy and Research Reactor/ Waste management:
        Waste Management (WM)

Radiation Protection:
        Enhancement and Harmonization of Radiation Protection 

General:

Name of the Project:  Tracer Technology and Nucleonic Control System                  

Project Co-ordinator:   F. B. Ahmed Maroof
Designation :  Chief Scientific Officer
Department:   Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka
Name of the Thematic Area:  Industry and Environment

Project Code:  RAS/08/071 and RAS/92/073
Starting Date: 1986          Completion: On Going

Background of the Project:  Study of various problems related with the dynamism of a system  in the industrial process plant, hydrology, environment etc. using tracer technology especially the radiotracer technology. 

Objective of the Project: Development of different radiotracer techniques to study various problems in industrial process plants and environment and the transfer of the technology to the end-users. 

Success Story of the Project: Under this programme a physical model has been installed in the laboratory for carrying out different experiments like flow rate measurement, dead volume measurement, mixing study, parallel flow measurement and residence time determination. A gamma absorption technique for scanning distillation column in a refinery has been developed. A neutron back scatter gauze technique for determination of liquid interface in a vessel has been installed. Equipment such as, rate meters, detectors, computers, injection systems and sealed sources were received. A nucleonic control system (NCS) has been installed in a paper mill under IAEA TC project which was approved as a follow-up of the RCA programme. Besides, fellowships and short trainings were provided for manpower development.   

Event under this project: A Workshop on “Application of Tracer Technology in Industry for SAARC Countries (28 November-02 December 1999) was organized by Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of the people’s Republic of Bangladesh. [Top]

Name of the Project: Air Pollution and Its Trends

Project Co-ordinator: Dr. Swapan Kumar Biswas  
Designation: Principal Scientific Officer
Department: Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka.  
Name of the thematic area:  Industry & Environment  

Project Code: RAS/97/030/A/01/18

Starting Date: 1998                            Completion Date: 2002

Background of the project: Airborne particulate matter (APM) as one of the important pollutants has drawn great attention globally. Urban air pollution has already been identified to be extremely harmful to public health. Moreover, it produces negative economic externalities for investments in the country and has a great impact on the economic growth of the country.

Objective of the Project:

The basic objective of the present RCA project is to produce baseline data on APM levels and to identify possible sources and their apportionment. The present study aims to quantify the nature and the extent of the pollution levels, their time variation, identify the possible sources and their apportionment.

Success story of the project: This programme has a strong coupling with the end-users, so that information generated can be used to implement management/control for the pollution. The following are some success stories of the project.     Scientific information on high Lead pollution levels and its possible sources were identified and provided to different end users from the work of this group. Ministry of Science and Technology raised this issue in the National Council of Science and Technology which drew attention of different Government and International Agencies, NGOs, National and International Press. As a result Government of Bangladesh decided to introduce unleaded gasoline in the country from 1^st July, 1999.  Department of Environment (DOE) has taken up an Air Quality Management Project (AQMP) with World Bank assistance aiming at regulatory measures to mitigate the air pollution problem.

Events under this project : There are a few events planned under the project:

  National Executive seminar (end of 2001) to disseminate the information gathered through the work.
 Regional workshop on statistical processes to understand Long Term Air Pollution Trends in 2002.   [Top]

 Name of the Project Co-ordirator:
          Md. Khairul Alam, Principal Scientific Officer (PSO).

Department: Radiation Monitoring and Waste Management Laboratory (RMWML) , Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology ( INST ) , Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Savar. Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC).

 Name of the thematic area: Waste Management (WM)

Name of the Project: Preparation for the Disposal  of LILW with Emphasis on Non-Power Sources.

Project Code: RAS/4/016

Starting Date: 1996                                                           Completion Date: On-going

Background of the Project:All RCA Member States are producing Low and Intermediate Level Waste(LILW) from non-power sources, and most of them will need disposal facilities for such waste. Establishment of a disposal facility has a long lead time and its technical concept should be in place as early as possible to provide technical guide lines to pre-disposal activities as well as early siting which is crucial for disposal.  However, many RCA Member States have lack of adequate infrastructure and technical expertise for establishing national LILW repositories.

 The RCA Project was established in 1996, following a Project Formulation Meeting in Bangkok (1996). Major steps of the project were:

(1) identification of waste inventories and conceptual reference site characteristics,

(2) establishment of ref. repository concepts,

(3) concept assessment, and

(4) establishment of ref. implementation plans for LILW disposal.

  Objective of the project: To assist RCA Member States in establishing national disposal facilities for LILW from nuclear applications by providing expert service and training on techniques and methodology associated with planning and establishment of LILW disposal facilities. [Top]

 Name of the Project:  Enhancement and Harmonization of Radiation Protection (RAS/9/018)

Name of the project Coordinator:           Engr. Kazi Obidual Awal

Designation:             Director       

Department:             Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control Division, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission                                                           

 Project Code:                                     RAS/9/018

 Starting Date: 1987                Completion Date: on going

 Background of the Project:        

The project was initiated in 1987 following a project formulation meeting in Tokyo. The activities under phase I and II have been manifold, aiming at strengthening, enhancement and harmonization of radiation protection activities in ASIA and the Pacific region.

RAS/9/018-Enhancement and Harmonization of Radiation Protection - began in 1997, as an off-shoot of RAS/9/006 for Strengthening of Radiation Protection Infrastructure. The project is conducted in two year cycle and is currently in the process of  cycle 2001/2002. The future direction of this project is based on another project RAS/9/021-Upgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure. Other IAEA supporting projects are:-

 Objective of the Project (RAS/9/018):            The principal objective of the project is to strengthen and enhance the radiation protection infrastructure in support of industrial activities and health services in the region. It is also intended to enhance regional and national capabilities for the safe use of radiation sources and radioactive material through harmonization of legislative, control, and assessment practices. The areas covered are:

  Success Story of the Project:

Events under this Project : None, but relevant events:           

q      Training Course Organized by NSRCD:-

 q      Training Workshops Organized in Collaboration with IAEA

q      National Workshop on Findings of Survey of X-ray  Machine (proposed time: September, 2001)

q      Project Formulation Meeting of RCA Counter Parts

  [Top]

Name of the project: Radiation processing applications for agro waste

Name of the Project Co-ordinator: Najmul Alam Chowdhury

Division: Microbiology and Industrial Irradiation Division. Institute of Food and Radiation Biology

Project Code: RAS/8/087

Starting Date: 1998                 Completion Date: 2001

Background of the Project: Huge quantities of agricultural residues and agro-wastes are produced in Bangladesh of which quite a large amount is under utilized or sometimes wasted. Our survey indicates that 12.00, 26.25, 0.04, 0.34, 1.27 and 1.27 million tons of sugar cane bagasse, rice straw, maize-barley straw, wheat straw, rice barn, jute stick, respectively are available per annum in Bangladesh. Among these substrates, rice straw is currently being used as animal feed though having less nutritive value. Sugar cane bagasse is not at all used as animal feed.Solid state fermentation of these materials by fungi has drawn more attention during the last few years primarily because of the possibility of converting them into materials that are more digestible by ruminants.

Objective of the project:  Objective of the present study is to upgrade these wastes into protein rich animal feed using radiation and fermentation technology.

Success story of the project: Rice straw and sugar cane bagasse were selected for upgradation because of their abundance and easy availability. The following two pretreatments were used in order to decrease lignin content, e.g. alkali treatment and lime treatment. For sterilization of these samples a dose of 30 kGy was used. Two strains, e.g. pleurotus sajor-caju and another locally isolated strain showing good growth and digestibility are being used. The local strain is yet to be identified in detail though preliminary results indicate it to be of the Actinomycetes group. For fermentation the fungal strains were streaked on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) media for obtaining pure culture. The strains were then inoculated in rice straw and sugar cane bagasse fermentation media and incubated at 30°C at a relative humidity of @ 85% for 6-8 weeks. The growth of inoculated fungi in the substrates were checked periodically. Both the strains showed good growth by 2 weeks after inoculation. After 4 weeks onward both the strains showed very good growth. At the end of the fermentation the two substrates appeared as a spongy like mass indicating complete fermentation and digestion by the enzymes. The fermented substrates and the fungi were mixed thoroughly to be used as animal feed. Analysis of fiber content and production of aflatoxin if any in the fermented animal feed is now under progress for evaluation of the final product.

Events under this project (if any): One scientist participated in the IAEA Regional (RCA) Workshop on Radiation Processing of Agro-wastes, MINT, Malaysia, 2-6 October, 2000. [Top]

 Project name: Application of food irradiation for food security, safety and trade.

Project Co-ordinator: M. Mosharraf Hossain

Division: Food Technology Division, Institute of Food and Radiation Biology

Name of the thematic area: Irradiation to improve food security, safety and facilitate trade of irradiated food products.

  Project Code: RAS/5/042

 Starting Date: January, 2001. Completion Date : December 2003

 Background of the project: Irradiation is increasingly recognized  as a method to ensure hygienic quality of food and to meet quarantine requirements. Representatives of RCA governments have already adopted a Harmonized Regulation on Food Irradiation for Asia and Pacific in 1998 and a Harmonized protocol on irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment of Food and Agricultural commodities in 1999. International trade of agricultural products plays a pivotal role in the economy of Asian and the Pacific regional countries. Many of the countries in the region which have the potential to export certain commodities such as spices, coconut, tropical fruits, dried fish etc. find it difficult to adhere to the high standard of quality expected from countries importing such commodities. Irradiation is a viable methods to address such storage problems and is suitable alternative to chemical methods. With this views in mind the project has been initiated.

Objective of the project:  To facilitate expansion of the use of food irradiation in RCA Countries and to improve trade in irradiated food within the region through continued public awareness/acceptance of radiation processing of food particularly phytosanitary applications; conducting inter-country market trials  of irradiated food; and training of personnel in specific fields, such as plant operation and maintenance and microbial safety.

 Success story of the project: Under the project collaboration is in progress to initiate trade trials of irradiated food with India.

Events under this projects : Under the project, a project co-ordinators’ meeting was convened in Bangkok, Thailand, 17-20 April, 2001. [Top]

Project name: Irradiation as a sanitary and phytosanitary treatments of food.

Project Co-ordinator: M. Mosharraf Hossain

Division: Food Technology Division, Institute of Food and Radiation Biology1 Name of the thematic area: Application of irradiation as sanitary and phytosanitary treatment in meat, poultry, fish and vegetables for augmenting trade

Project Code: RAS/5/034
Starting Date: July, 2000. Completion Date : June  2003

Background of the project:

Food irradiation as a promising physical process has been gaining wide acceptance in recent years and the use of irradiation technology as a sanitary and phytosanitary treatment is gaining more and more recognition. Recently potential use of  irradiation in combination with other food process have been realised and irradiation in combination with other process (e.g. reduced water activity, pH, proper packaging and mild heat/cooled treatment) are being practised for getting products of superior quality and safety. With this view, a project entitled “Radiation as sanitary and phytosanitary treatments in meat, poultry, fish and vegetables for augmenting trade” has been initiated.

 Objective of the project: The overall objectives of the project is to develop a policy using irradiation as an alternative treatment to fumigants/chemicals to ensure the hygienic quality of food especially those of animal origin and quarantine treatment of fresh horticultural commodities.

Success story of the project:
Under the project research on the preservation of meat, beef has been initiated. The work  is in progress.
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