Postgraduate educational course in radiation protection and the safety of radiation sources. Standard syllabus

The aim of the Postgraduate Educational Course in Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources is to meet the needs of professionals at graduate level, or the equivalent, for initial training to acquire a sound basis in radiation protection and the safety of radiation sources. The course also aims to provide the necessary basic tools for those who will become trainers in radiation protection and in the safe use of radiation sources in their countries. It is designed to provide both theoretical and practical training in the multidisciplinary scientific and/or technical bases of international recommendations and standards on radiation protection and their implementation. The participants should have had a formal education to a level equivalent to a university degree in the physical, chemical or life sciences or engineering and should have been selected to work in the field of radiation protection and the safe use of radiation sources in their countries. The present revision of the Standard Syllabus takes into account the requirements of the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (BSS), IAEA Safety Series No. 115 (1996) and recommendations of related Safety Guides, as well as experience gained from the Postgraduate Educational Course on Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources held in several regions in recent years. The general aim of the course, as mentioned, is the same. Some of the improvements in the present version are as follows: The learning objective of each part is specified. The prerequisites for each part are specified. The structure of the syllabus has been changed: the parts on Principles of Radiation Protection and on Regulatory Control were moved ahead of Dose Assessment and after Biological Effects of Radiation. The part on the interface with nuclear safety was dropped and a module on radiation protection in nuclear power plants has been included. A part on Training the Trainers was included to fulfill the aim of the course in relation to the concept of 'train the trainers'. The suggested duration of each part has been revised. More emphasis is given to Regulatory Control and Occupational Radiation Protection. The total suggested duration has not changed (18 weeks), but the syllabus is flexible enough to tailor the duration and course content to specific needs. The content and technical terms have been revised in light of the IAEA Safety Glossary. Unnecessary repetition of topics has been eliminated. Practical training sessions (demonstrations, laboratory exercises, case studies, technical visits and simulations) have been included for each part. A comprehensive list of publications for reference and for distribution to participants and lecturers has been included. The objective of the Standard Syllabus is to facilitate the integration of courses in radiation protection and the safety of radiation sources into the curricula of educational institutions in Member States and to achieve both consistency and a common level in the technical content of such courses. The focus of the course is on the technical and administrative framework necessary for regulatory and operational controls for protection against ionizing radiation and the safe use of radiation sources in all their applications. The Standard Syllabus of the Postgraduate Educational Course in Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources is divided into eleven parts and each part is divided into modules. For each part, the prerequisite is indicated as well as the general learning objective. Each module is described by the content and the link to the training material and the reference publication. The content of each module is described by short sentences and key words. The list of reference publications for each module is also presented. For each part, a list of practical training sessions is suggested. These sessions can be demonstrations, laboratory exercises, case studies, technical visits, simulation exercises or workshops. The prerequisites, general learning objectives and recommended duration for each part are summarized. The prerequisite for the course is that the participants should have had a formal education to a level equivalent to a university degree in physics, chemistry, life sciences or engineering and should have been selected to work in the field of radiation protection and the safety of radiation sources in their countries