Two radionuclide stations that detect and monitor radioactive materials in the whole region are set up at KISR. Dr Dhari Al Ajmi, Director of Environment & Urban Development Division at KISR, in an exclusive interview to the Arab Times reveals more about the project and how the CTBTO chose Kuwait for this onerous project. Read and find out more about KISR’s largest division and how science intervenes positively for the overall development and prosperity of a nation.
Q: Yours is the biggest division in KISR. Can you tell us something about your division, its objectives and tasks?
A: I am the Director of the Environment Urban Development Division at KISR. It’s one of KISR’s biggest divisions. It has 4 departments. The first one is the Environmental Science Department, which deals with environmental practice assessment, environmental engineering and marine pollution studies and land pollution studies. Waste management is also handled by this department.
So this department has researchers, professionals and technicians dealing with all these issues.
The second department is the Atmospheric and Hydraulic Coastal Engineering Department. It deals with air pollution, desertification studies and hydraulic and coastal engineering. It is responsible for some projects in radioactive materials. This dept has two major radioactive stations. One belongs to CTBTO or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization.
It is the only radionuclide station in the region. This station was built by CTBTO, which is based in Austria, Vienna. This organization has 80 monitoring stations all over the world. What is located here in KISR is station no. 40. It’s the only one in the region.
This station is capable of detecting radioactive materials, radionuclide from nuclear activities such as nuclear testing. So this is a very important station and is connected internationally with other stations. It works 24 hrs throughout the year. We train our staff to operate and maintain the station and contact CTBTO on a daily basis.
This department has a second radionuclide station, which was built with the assistance of IAEA or the International Atomic Energy Agency. This is also in KISR. This station is better equipped to detect radioactive materials.
Q: When you say these radionuclide stations are in KISR, do you mean in this premise?
A: Yes. It is here in this premise near the coast. These stations are connected and have equipments in them, and they send data directly via satellites to CTBTO.
The atmospheric and coastal department division conducts many research activities. One of the major activities of the department includes creating conceptual designs for coastal developments. We have a hydraulic engineering team that works on such projects.
This team can actually make assessments of various projects and give the right design and advice to the decision makers of the country.  One of the important projects undertaken by this department is the study of Ali Sabah Al Salim Area. You would have heard of Umm Al Haiman Area. We conducted studies in this area for close to two years to detect the air pollutants in this area from stationary and mobile sources.
The third department is the department that is involved in two major activities: the building materials and energy department. So they have two different teams working under one department. The department has experts from different fields such as civil engineering and mechanical engineering and building material sciences to coming up with the right materials for buildings. This team is very special.
The second team deals with energy. This is a new program under the division. This program aims to build our capabilities in alternative and renewable energy technologies such as solar power, wind power, fuel cells and so forth. We have already started our program in this field. We have done many experiments. Our wind energy projects are ongoing. We assess and measure the wind fields here and our capacity to tap wind energy to meet our energy needs.
The solar energy technology is very advanced in the world and there are many manufacturers. There are many different kinds of cells that are available to trap solar energy. We put these cells to test and conduct studies to find out which technology suits us best. There are many factors to consider given our climatic conditions.
We are very confident that solar cells if put to right use can be an ideal solution to much of our energy problems. This region has much sun and the temperature conditions here are very high. However, the technology we adopt must be able to cope with our conditions such as dust storms and so on. This program will give decision makers a new vision to deal with this kind of alternative and renewable energy.
This department actually deals with conservation of energy. KISR conducted studies on how to save energy in our buildings. We did auditing in government buildings to find out ways to reduce wastage of energy. We came up with a scheme. This is going to be an important step if we want to minimize the waste of energy.
For example, through the smart handling of energy in buildings we can to a great extent cut energy wastage. There are monitory technologies that can be used to regulate our appliances. A system can turn off computers after a certain number of hours. This can be done with other electrical gadgets as well. If this is applied here in Kuwait we can save a lot of energy.
The fourth department has two groups. One deals with creating viable solutions to make the life of handicapped people easy for them. These people need assistance in reading and writing and so on. So we developed computer programs for reading and writing for the handicapped.
A project that we launched recently is one of our most important projects. We have the whole of the Holy Quran in Braille language. Now the Quran can be read by the blind. We finished it only last year.
Q: I think that would be the first one of its kind in the world, a Quran in Braille language. Is that right?
A: Yes, it is. Now many countries are asking for the software we developed for the blind. Tunisia, Algeria and Gulf countries have placed orders for the software. We have also received many awards.
And then we have the advanced system analysis department. One of the projects we completed under this department is an atlas for the whole country for radionuclide. It is the radiation map of Kuwait. We have a baseline data based on soil samples. We divided the country into different cells. From this we can find out if there is an increase year to year in radiation amounts. If there is an increase we look for the reasons for the increase of radioactive compounds like for example Cesium 37.
We developed this map here. This is the first of its kind in the Gulf countries. This project was conducted with the assistance of IAEA. This project was under a program called Technical Cooperation Program or the TC Program of IAEA. We have now five ongoing programs under the TC Program.
Every country has the right to get the benefits of TC programs and we interacted with IAEA and submitted our proposals to IAEA and it was accepted. We got equipments, consultants, advisors, and trainees from IAEA to conduct workshops and train our staff. We have benefited a lot from the TC programs.
KISR is the focal point for IAEA in Kuwait. And we have the responsibility to evaluate and oversee all the projects conducted in Kuwait in any ministry or other institution. And so we submit our report before any project is undertaken. We are responsible for submitting the project and getting approval from IAEA and following it up.
The second thing in my division is that we are involved with GCC countries through the secretary-general of GCC in Riyadh. We are actually part of a big committee to come up with the plan of building a peaceful nuclear station for generation of electricity and water. We have been working with the secretary-general of GCC for the last three years to develop this nuclear reactor. The talks are on. One of the tasks in this nuclear power station project is to come up with a plan for training the nationals in the GCC to handle, operate and maintain the station in the event of some country setting up a nuclear power station for peaceful purposes.
We have been participating in many meetings in Riyadh and Vienna regarding this.
We are also involved in a lot of projects with the Environment and Public Authority (EPA). We are like the technical arm of EPA, so whenever they have any issue or want to conduct studies in air pollution, land pollution, environmental degradation and so on, they come to us and we work with them jointly.
We are part of many important committees in EPA such as climate change committee, desertification committee, ozone depletion committee and others. We participate with them. We also attend international meetings on issues such as climate change and other matters related to environment. There is a governmental panel on climate change. We provide them much support and offer technical assistance to them.
We are also involved in the desertification committee. We conduct studies, table our plans and follow them up. We study the impact of desertification on major installations, on roads, oil reservoirs, buildings, agricultural areas and so on. We actually participate in a lot of activities of the EPA.
We also conduct many projects for Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Electricity and Water, Kuwait Municipality, oil companies and so on. We interact with oil companies on a regular basis. We are open to private companies as well. Some companies come to us for the evaluation and assessment of different projects.
We have 152 permanent employees. There are about 26 temporary employees. We have labs for various studies. In the building materials department we have highly sophisticated labs. In the air pollution wing, we have three mobile laboratories.
Using the mobile labs, we move around and take in situ measurements. We have two major radionuclide stations in KISR.
We have a very sophisticated mobile laboratory, which has a laser instrument to detect radioactive contamination in the soil.
We have major equipments and lots of dedicated and highly qualified staff. We also work closely with UNEP or United Nations Environment Program. We just completed our assignments with UNEP. This was a program called the Global Environmental Outlook 4 (GEO). It’s a big report. Scientists from all over the world participated in this report.
The program picked scientists from different parts of the world. I was one of them. They gave us responsibilities for the chapters. I was involved in two chapters. This report is very comprehensive and gives a clear indication of the status of the environment in different parts of the world.
It also highlights major environmental problems in the world like water related issues, climate change problems, air pollution, desertification, urbanization problems and so on. They divided the world into regions; Kuwait fell in the West Asian region.
UNEP’s West Asia office is in Manama, Bahrain.
Another activity of UNEP in which I am involved is chapter 7, which is related to the atmosphere. UNEP with the Arab League, in Egypt, decided to come up with a report for the Arab region, and I participated in it. On the 15th of March this year there will be a big event in Cairo. I will be attending it. All senior authors of this chapter are invited. This gives a good insight into our problems of environment.
I am the author of one of the chapters of the 12 chapters. This is a very important program that this division from KISR is involved in.
Q: Why did CTBTO choose Kuwait for the radionuclide stations in the region? Is it because there is a higher risk of radiation here?
A: Many countries signed the agreement with CTBTO. And when they signed agreement they formed a scientific committee. They divided the world into small quarters, and the organization decided to spread 80 stations around the world in a fairly distributed manner.
Between 1999 and 2001, I was with the CTBTO. When I was there, I tried to convince my government that we should have the stations here. It could have been in Saudi Arabia or other GCC countries because it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Kuwait accepted my proposal and that’s how we have it here. It’s the only one in the Middle East, so any nuclear activity in the region will be measured by the stations in KISR.
Q: Can the stations measure radiations in any place in the region?
A: Oh, yes. It is measured by using the wind. The stations have powerful suction machines that suck the air, which is then passed through a chamber with filters, and specialized detectors to detect any radio active element in it.
Kuwait, though a small country, is becoming a very important center for these kinds of activities.
Q: From your studies, which place in the region is most vulnerable to radiation or where is radiation levels dangerously high as of now?
A: Well it is difficult to say. We just conduct measurements for radioactivity and if we find anything anomalous, then we report it to CTBTO, who come and conduct further investigations to trace its origin. This station, as I said, is based on wind speed and wind direction. We will have to do modeling and find out the actual source of radiation.
For example, let’s say, today at 10 ‘o clock, we detected high concentration of Cesium 37. We find the wind direction, let’s say north. Then we detect the wind speed. Based on these data we create a model and track back the source. There are many techniques to find out the source. But we cannot say who is responsible for a particular radiation unless we have solid evidence.
Q: Have you so far detected any important radioactive polluter in the region? Or any cause of pollution?
A: So far we have not found any alarmingly high amount of radioactive pollution. All the data so far have been within the normal limits. We hope it remains that way.
Q: You said this is the biggest department in KISR. What is the reason for that? Does Kuwait feel that environment is the biggest concern?
A: Not really. It goes like this. KISR is broadly divided into divisions and under each division there are some departments. This division has a history. It was a very small division started with the objective of studying environmental issues. Later on ‘energy’ was included in it. And then building materials was added. It’s the only division in KISR that has four divisions today with the inclusion of advanced systems analysis department.
Therefore now it’s become a big division.
Q: What do you like to say as a closing note to this interview?
A: Environmental issues are really gaining much importance globally. Kuwait is paying a lot of attention to these issues. There are international standards now for air pollution, land pollution and marine pollution. Kuwait has to really abide by the standards and follow the rules to tackle environmental issues.
Kuwait’s Parliament has an environmental committee which is watching what’s happening in the country. Kuwait is very much interested and is keen on knowing about the quality of our environment.
Kuwait is developing at a fast pace. Its industries are growing. Urban developments are expanding fast. Now we have Qurain and new cities are coming up. There are many high-rise buildings coming up. So makes it very important for us to watchful of the environment and as scientists we have extra responsibilities we feel.
KFAS supports our projects and funds us well. They believe in our activities. HH the Amir actually donated KD 1 million for energy studies to KISR. This means that the government is paying more attention to renewable and alternative energy. The fossil fuel, oil and coal, can pollute the environment. Alternative energy is the need of the hour. We are working on all these fronts to provide the best and the most feasible solutions.

biography

Dr Dhari Al-Ajmi is the Director of Environment & Urban Development Division at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). He is the only scientist in Kuwait with a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences and gained his PhD from Oregon State University in the US, and his masters from Drexel University in Philadelphia on government scholarships.
He joined KISR in 1977.
Dr Dhari has authored five books in Arabic on atmospheric studies, air pollution and climatology. Three of those books are text books at Kuwait University. He has co-authored 13 other books, 12 of them in English. Thirty of his papers have been published in international refereed journals, reviewed and certified by international scientists as suitable for publication.
Dr Dhari is also a lecturer at Kuwait University and handles a course titled “Environment and Human Being.”