[en] In China, there are ICSD manufacturers, ICSD importers and ICSD exporters. The manufacturing of ICSDs requires approval by the regulatory body. Imported and exported ICSDs are required to be registered with the regulatory body. Therefore, the number of ICSDs in China is well known to the regulatory body. ICSDs are often installed in public and crowded places such as warehouses, shopping centres, hotels, museums, libraries, movie theatres and so on. ICSDs have also been installed in living areas (households). The service life of ICSDs is generally 5–10 years in China. In the past, ICSDs represented about 70% of all smoke detectors in China but currently the market for ICSDs is decreasing, especially since 2014. Photoelectric detectors are gradually replacing ICSDs. In the past the national repository charged the users for the collection of disused ICSD. Since 2017, the government has requested that the national repository receive disused ICSDs cost free. The most common ICSD radionuclide is 241Am. The use of other radionuclides requires approval by the regulatory body. So far, there have been no incidents or accidents due to the use of ICSDs that have impacted the national policy.

[en] In Montenegro, there are no specific legal provisions concerning ICSD production, import, export, use, removal, transportation, storage, etc. All aspects of an ICSD’s life cycle need to follow general legal provisions (including licensing and/or exempting) for radioactive sources. There are no manufacturers of ICSDs in Montenegro. Import procedures are the same as for any other radioactive source, thus requiring a licence from the regulator. There are no specialized licensed importers of ICSDs. Export is not specifically regulated; however, it is expected that all radioactive sources imported after the 2009 Radiation Protection Law was enacted will be returned to the manufacturers, which de facto means exported. There are an estimated 20 000 241Am ICSDs in Montenegro (including both those in use and disused ICSDs). Some 200 disused ICSDs have been removed so far and are stored at the national radioactive waste facility in Podgorica.

[en] In Mongolia, currently, there are no ICSD manufacturers or exporters. There are ICSD importers. Currently all radioactive materials need authorization, such as small activity radioactive calibration detectors. Usually ICSDs were imported from the Russian Federation. ICSDs were installed in state and private industry, some in offices. Each user has to declare radioactive materials for each consignment to inform to the regulatory body. Mongolia has a long term storage facility, which is the centralized Isotope Centre (IC) under the Nuclear Energy Commission (NEC). A detailed inventory exists of all disused radioactive sources stored at the IC. As of 2015, more than 2000 ICSDs had been stored in the IC. Currently the IC is only used for storage for disused radioactive sources. Mongolia has drafted a national RWM strategy but currently it lacks a full infrastructure to manage its existing inventory of radioactive waste or expected future waste arisings. A system is in place to detect, characterize and manage orphan sources. Duties of the IC are specified in the Nuclear Energy Law, Article 11.3, which specifies that the State administrative authority needs to have a special, national facility to centrally store, transport and dispose of nuclear material, nuclear waste and non‑exploitable radioactive waste. This facility is controlled by the State.

[en] There are no ICSD manufacturers or exporters in Serbia at present. There are ICSD importers that require authorization by the regulatory body, the Serbian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. In the past, a research reactor in Serbia produced source material for ICSDs and two types of ICSDs were manufactured in the reactor’s laboratory. There were also several manufacturers of ICSDs in Serbia and other countries of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia whose ICSDs are still in use. More than 100 000 ICSDs are stored in old radioactive waste storage facilities and recorded in a radioactive waste database. The exact number of ICSDs installed in Serbia is not known. For installed ICSDs, control of dosimetry is performed by a licensed organization every two years. There are ten companies licensed by the regulatory body in Serbia for ICSD maintenance. One condition for obtaining the licence is the holding of a contract with the Public Company Nuclear Facilities of Serbia for RWM. The contract obliges the maintenance company to store disused ICSDs as radioactive waste in the Public Company Nuclear Facilities of Serbia. Ionization smoke detectors are only installed in public buildings, industrial facilities, buildings for commercial use, etc. There are no ICSDs installed in private houses. There are examples of damaged ICSDs within scrap metal, building/construction sites damaged by fire, the NATO bombing in 1999 and flooding. In these situations, the detection of 241Am is a challenge. Decommissioning/decontamination of laboratories used for maintenance and production of ICSDs is performed. No data about in‑service ICSD lifetimes are available. In relation to fire protection, they are inspected regularly. Manufacturer’s data related to ICSD lifetimes are not available.

[en] Albania does not have any ICSD manufacturers, importers or exporters. The import of ICSDs is prohibited and there is a ban on their use. A campaign to determine the number and types of ICSDs in Albania indicated that there are only a few ICSDs in the country, but their origins were not determined. Based on available information, ICSDs were never distributed or installed in Albania, except for the few mentioned above. Therefore, the guidance provided in Annex 1 is not applicable (i.e. a report on where and how were they installed, how were they removed from service, how were they collected and what is the recommended service life).

[en] In Argentina, there are no ICSD manufacturers. There are only ICSD importers. All radioactive materials under regulation of imported origin need the corresponding import authorization. Each importer declares the total amount of radioactive material for each consignment to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority. Each authorized ICSD importer has a radiation safety officer who maintains records of the radioactive material stored under its authority. The use of ICSDs devices is not regulated in Argentina, due to their individual activity below the exemption limit established in Regulatory Guide AR 6. Nevertheless, ICSDs importers need regulatory authority authorization and, consequently, are under regulatory control. There are no special requirements for distributing ICSDs, however, authorized importers have records of the distribution of radioactive material. Ionization smoke detectors were normally installed in institutions and less so in households. They were installed either by consumers or maintenance staff in institutions. In addition, ICSDs were removed from service either by consumers or maintenance staff in institutions. The use of ICSDs has been decreasing in Argentina during the last decades. No special recommendation is required for service life.

[en] Chile does not have any ICSD manufacturers or exporters. Regulations in Chile consider three categories of radioactive facilities, of which category number 3 includes ICSDs. The importation of such devices require authorization, but the application of this requirement is not assured. The radioactive waste management section of the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission (CCHEN) has an inventory of 5643 DSRS coming from ICSDs. The amount of ICSDs currently in operation is not possible to estimate. Ionization chamber smoke detectors have been installed in buildings of public or private institutions and industries. In special cases they are used in residential buildings. In the past ten years, the use of ICSDs has been replaced by the use of photoelectric smoke detectors. The national legislation does not require the installation of fire detection systems in private houses, it is only a requirement for residential and commercial buildings and industries. The installation of ICSDs is carried out by companies dedicated to implementation of fire detection systems. These companies do not require authorization from the regulatory body to develop their activities (installation and maintenance); but for removal from service, the regulatory body could request some type of authorization. This is not a rule for all companies, since it will depend on consulting the regulatory body. In case of the maintenance or change of fire detection systems, ICSDs can be removed by the company in charge of the maintenance (sometimes with or without authorization from the regulatory body). Legislation in Chile defines that the generator is in charge of the management of their waste. Therefore, once the ICSDs have been removed, the managers of each company request their management from CCHEN as radioactive waste. All activities related to radioactive waste management in Chile are centralized at CCHEN, but there is no centralized collection of ICSDs. Each generator is responsible for transporting their ICSDs to CCHEN facilities by themselves or using external services.

[en] In Thailand, there are no ICSD manufacturers or exporters. There are ICSD importers. Currently, all radioactive materials need authorization. Each importer and user needs to declare the total amount of radioactive material for each consignment to the regulatory body. However, not all authorized importers have reported ICSD distribution to the regulator, therefore records of the distribution of radioactive material are incomplete. ICSDs were normally installed in institutions, hotels, subway station, factories etc. ICSDs were installed either by consumers or authorized workers. In addition, ICSDs were removed from service either by consumers or companies. There are no designated collection points for disused ICSDs. Consumers or companies collect disused ICSDs and inform the regulatory body Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP). The OAP informs the Radioactive Waste Management Center (RWMC), a part of the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT), a public organization. The RWMC is authorized to manage disused ICSDs and generators pay a service charge. Currently ICSDs are stored. Since ICSDs are only partially under regulatory control, the number of ICSDs in service may be difficult to determine. There is no recommended in‑service lifetime for ICSDs.

[en] In the Islamic Republic of Iran, there are no ICSD manufacturers or exporters. Previously there were ICSD importers that did not require authorization from the Iran Nuclear Regulatory Authority (INRA). Currently, due to a change in approach and users’ decisions to use non‑ionizing smoke detectors, there are fewer ICSD importers. A permit from the INRA to import ICSDs is now compulsory. ICSDs were normally installed in institutions, hotels, subway stations, industrial factories, warehouses, stores and in some houses. The installation of ICSDs started at the beginning of the 1970s. The majority of ICSDs are not listed in the INRA database since ICSD use started many years before the regulatory framework was established. There is little information about ICSDs installed in the country since ICSDs were distributed without any control. Since 2008 the Iran Radioactive Waste Management Co. (IRWA) started collecting ICSDs in a centralized facility. As of early 2021, about 6000 ICSDs have been collected by the IRWA. The great majority of collected ICSDs contain 241Am sources and there are some ICSDs with ²²⁶Ra sources.

[en] ICSDs are an important component of fire safety systems in Canada. Both ICSDs and non‑radioactive smoke detectors are important components which contribute to the effectiveness of overall fire safety systems. Canada presently does not have any manufacturers or large‑scale exporters of ICSDs. As such, Canada is an importer of any ICSDs which are in use. The Canadian nuclear regulatory regime provides specific exemptions to regulation for ICSDs which meet certain performance criteria related to the ICSD’s radiation safety. These exemptions do not apply to the initial importers/distributors or any manufacturers of ICSDs in Canada. Distribution of exempted ICSDs within Canada is generally performed through retail sales channels. Installation and removal of these exempted ICSDs can be performed by consumers or their contractors. The distribution, installation and removal of any ICSD which does not meet regulatory requirements for exemption are required to be performed by an entity licensed and authorized by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. As the disposal of most ICSDs in Canada is exempted from regulation by the nuclear regulator, a current estimate of the number of ICSDs is unknown. However, recent inventory levels at sites licensed to import, distribute or possess non‑exempt ICSDs totalled an inventory of approximately 260 000 units. Although the service life of ICSDs are specified by the manufacturer, ICSDs have approximately a 10–15 year recommended period of use.