The use of ionizing radiation techniques in the fields of medicine, industry and basic research has increased in the last decade in India. These uses are generating huge social benefits in terms of cancer treatment, diagnosis and industrial uses such as non-destructive testing and food processing applications. However, ionic radiation has some radiological hazards associated with dealing with radiation sources. If they are not handled safely, there are likely to be some radiological hazards in which serious injury or enviromental contamination are the main ones. Therefore, radioactive sources and radiaiton generators need to be safely controlled throughout their life cycle to prevent any undue risk to health and the environment. In view of the above, radiation facilities need to be regulated to ensure that the use of ionized radiation does not pose an undue risk to health and the environment.
The use of ionizing radiation in India is carried out by the Radiological Safety Review and Regulation of such facilities by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board- AERB. It is a statutory requirement to obtain the requisite license from the AERB, which is issued after the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004 issued under Atomic Energy Act 1962 to ensure overall safety of the use of radiation sources.
The growth in the application of ionizing radiation technology poses a tremendous challenge to AERB to regulate all of these facilities, effectively and efficiently ensuring the safety and security of radiation facilities with the limited resources available to AERB. To meet this challenge, AERB has taken the initiative to implement the e-governance system, eLORA (e-licensing of radiation application) for automation of regulatory processes associated with the use of ionizing radiation in India.
eLORA is a web-based I & CT (information and communication technology) application that establishes a direct communication channel between AERB and its stakeholders. It is meant to deliver its regulatory services for the exchange of information and communication transactions, as well as to achieve high efficiency, reliability and transparency in practice. The eLORA System is designed to automate the extensive business processes of the use of ionizing radiation as well as the large number of radiological application regulations targeted to include radiation workers working with them for safe service. The components of eLORA are chosen to achieve business solutions with security, performance, availability, scalability, manageability, and maintenance. The eLORA system infrastructure is based on virtualization technology, which has helped achieve cost effectiveness at the investment level during operations in a data center.
