History of the radiological protection in Mexico

The beginning in the use of the ionizing radiations goes back towards end of 19 century, when Wilhelm Roentgen discovers x-rays in 1985, finding that quickly founds also the new technology, which spreads to tabs of multiple applications anywhere in the world, some of very beneficial them of use like the radio diagnosis, but others of frivolous and commercial kind. As much in the beneficial uses as in the banal ones, the world also is begun to be aware that the ionizing radiations are a physical element that must be handled with precaution then also can induce injuries in the involved people, which is documented already in 1912. This characteristic is confirmed with the use of Radio-226 as source of ionizing radiation, in whose applications were observed some deleterious effects, which forces to take some measures of protection an intuitive and rather incipient way. The first attempt of limit was denominated erythema dose, that it was a concept of qualitative-subjective character when it is observed a reddening of the skin of the radiated zone. Just a short time later, with the invention of the detector Geiger and the possibility of measuring the radiation quantity received by the people, the limits are transformed into quantitative. lt is as well as it is born the radiological protection like scientific and technological discipline, and essential ally of the nuclear energy pacific applications , event in which the international organizations related to the subject play a very important role, in the middle of the 1920 decade. Since then radiological protection (RP) is in permanent evolution, keeping a balance between the people protection, the sources security and the benefits of the ionizing radiations applications. In Mexico, the nuclear energy taking height from the second half of 1950, when the National Commission of Nuclear Energy was created, it spent in his first years to functions that mainly were of investigation, but in which already appeared the RP like one of its fundamental programs, along with others of similar importance like those of radioactive precipitation measurement. lt was the own National Commission of Nuclear Energy the one that begins the development of certain functions of regulating character. With the birth of the project of the Nuclear Power Plant of Laguna Verde, in the middle of the 1970 decade, the radiological protection in Mexico acquires and additional relevance from different perspective: on the one hand the necessity of the inclusion of a dedicated organization of radiological protection as much of the workers, as if to inhabitants of the zones bordering the nuclear plant. On 1979 it is created the National Commission of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards like exclusively regulating organization in the nuclear and radiological field, which constitutes a landmark in the modern history of the RP in Mexico. The own constant evolution in the RP concepts demands the preparation to confront the new future challenges. (Author)