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The concept of a Regional Resource Units (RRU) was developed to
recognize that in RCA Member States, the national and international investments to establish and improve nuclear science and technology have often developed across the region in pockets of high level scientific and technical expertise, based around their investments in manpower and equipment. These resources have generally not being acknowledged for their achievements and more importantly have not being
utilized to any significant degree for the benefit of the RCA Programme. The introduction of
RRU's into the RCA programme was seen to have the potential to make a significant increase in TCDC; to increase the sustainability of nuclear science and technology at a regional level for Member States; to increase the “ownership” of projects by Member States; and as a cost effective mechanism to deliver project activities.
The RCA Member States agreed to establish Regional Resource Units
(RRU's) at the 18 th Meeting of the National RCA Representatives held in Beijing in 1996 as a mechanism for enhancing the ownership of the RCA Programme by the Member States and for increasing TCDC. It was also seen as a mechanism for recognizing the national and international investments made to establish and improve nuclear science and technology, which has resulted in some Member States achieving a high level of expertise in certain areas. It was envisaged that recognizing such institutes as Regional Resource Units in specific project areas would enhance their utilization at regional level and thereby contribute to TCDC.
Following the decision to establish RRU's, information on the potential
RRU's were obtained from the Member States. 34 RRU's in 13 project areas were established after considering the information received. A “Study on the
RRU's " has been carried out by the former National RCA Representative for India Dr. A.K. Anand, and the report has been presented to the 24
th Meeting of the National RCA Representatives held in Taejon, Republic of Korea in 2002.
There is potential to improve the utilization of RRUs by making the information on the
RRU's more easily accessible to the relevant stakeholders. The establishment of the RRU data-base is expected to resolve this problem to a large extent.
The first phase of the development of a database of the
RRU's was completed in late 2004, under the Electronic Networking and Outreach Project. The Member States have been informed about this development and have been requested to designate a person responsible for maintaining and updating data pertaining to the RRUs in each Member State. The designated person shall be given administrative authority to update information on existing
RRU's but shall not have the authority to create a new RRU on the database. Only the RCA Coordinator’s Office shall have this authority.
- A well-established expert group within a national organization, normally a
NNRI (National Nuclear Research Institute);
- Being in either a developed or developing Member State;
- Being able to exercise a leadership role in projects/part projects through having high quality
capabilities (eg. analysis, tracer services, etc) which are available for use within the region;
- Attuned to the needs of technology end-users, such as local companies, government
organizations, etc; and
- Able to carry out IAEA contracts, provide “hands on” training for other Member States (TCDC), assess project proposals, etc.
- The criteria for RRU's should include:
- Willingness to share in regional activities;
- Scientific excellence in a technique (publication record, modern equipment, standards of measurements, etc);
- A suitable number of trained staff;
- Sufficient ongoing projects to ensure that skills are regularly used and updated;
- Part of a well-supported national programme; and
- Administratively well-supported within their NNRI.
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