Risk management for ionizing radiation and radioactive materials used in medicine

The Medical Radiation Management Research Committee has been established within the Health Physics Society. This article outlines the results of surveys that were made by the Committee, and analyzes the current conditions of radiation management in medical facilities. The first survey used questionnairs returned from about 1,400 medical institutes over Japan. Survey results showed that a radiation management system was not fully established or was not functioning satisfactorily in most medical facilities except large hospitals. It may not be appropriate, however, to apply such radiation management techniques as used in nuclear power plants or nuclear laboratories to these small medical facilities where patients have to be treated. The second servey covered 197 relatively large medical institutes. It showed that nearly 80 percent of the institutes maintained many small sealed sources, mostly 226Ra, that they had no intention of using. Results of these surveys reveal that generally, medical facilities are inferior to other radiation application facilities in many aspects including management system, management techniques and basic management policies. (Nogami, K.)