[en] The general scientific policy objectives of the 12th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA12) were the following: -To encourage all participants to put into practice its motto: 'strengthening radiation protection worldwide'. IRPA12 focused on the promotion, enhancement and strengthening of radiation protection worldwide through a broad gathering of professionals, rather than through a highly specialized conference aimed at reporting sharp scientific breakthroughs; -To produce a definite outcome, namely concrete findings and follow-up recommendations that can be implemented. To attain these general policy objectives, IRPA12 was arranged in three distinct Main Fields, which were divided into 10 Scientific Areas including a total of 38 Topical Sessions. The three main fields of radiation protection as follows: -Epistemological basis of radiation protection, namely current knowledge of the physics and biology of radiation exposure and its effects, particularly in relation to its scope experimental methods and theoretical validity; -Paradigm of radiation protection, namely universal conceptual models used to protect people from deleterious health effects due to radiation exposure; -Radiation protection in practice, namely the actual application and use of radiation protection plans and methodologies by practitioners and industries making use of radiation. For each main field, a background session was held, which provided the status of information on major international issues in these three fields. The keynote addresses held at these background sessions are included in this publication. Within the above main fields, IRPA12 focused on 10 Scientific Areas as follows: characterization of radiation exposure; biological effects of radiation; developing the radiation protection framework; developing protection policies, criteria, methods and culture; emergency planning, preparedness and response; radiation safety in nuclear installations; non-ionizing radiation applications; medicine; natural occurring radioactive material in industry; other applications and practices

[en] The general scientific policy objectives of the 12th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA12) were the following: - To encourage all participants to put into practice its motto: 'strengthening radiation protection worldwide'. IRPA12 focused on the promotion, enhancement and strengthening of radiation protection worldwide through a broad gathering of professionals, rather than through a highly specialized conference aimed at reporting sharp scientific breakthroughs; - To produce a definite outcome, namely concrete findings and follow-up recommendations that can be implemented. To attain these general policy objectives, IRPA12 was arranged in three distinct Main Fields, which were divided into 10 Scientific Areas including a total of 38 Topical Sessions. The three main fields of radiation protection as follows: -Epistemological basis of radiation protection, namely current knowledge of the physics and biology of radiation exposure and its effects, particularly in relation to its scope experimental methods and theoretical validity; - Paradigm of radiation protection, namely universal conceptual models used to protect people from deleterious health effects due to radiation exposure; - Radiation protection in practice, namely the actual application and use of radiation protection plans and methodologies by practitioners and industries making use of radiation. For each main field, a background session was held, which provided the status of information on major international issues in these three fields. The keynote addresses held at these background sessions are included in this publication. Within the above main fields, IRPA12 focused on 10 Scientific Areas as follows: characterization of radiation exposure; biological effects of radiation; developing the radiation protection framework; developing protection policies, criteria, methods and culture; emergency planning, preparedness and response; radiation safety in nuclear installations; non-ionizing radiation applications; medicine; natural occurring radioactive material in industry; other applications and practices

[en] This paper describes the design and construction of new Performance Testing programme that was implemented in Canada in 2008. The Canadian Regulator (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission - CNSC) had determined that their licensees, in addition to the existing In Vivo and In Vitro performance tests, needed to demonstrate their ability in interpreting bioassay results. The program is administered by the Canadian National Calibration Reference Centre for Bioassay and In Vivo Monitoring (NCRC). Currently the NCRC carries out the performance testing for the In Vitro and In Vivo. At time of writing, the first round has not been completed and the pass/fail criteria have not been determined. (author)

[en] The Radiopharmaceutical Facility (RF) of the IPEN-CNEN/SP has processed and handled several radionuclides and compounds, in unsealed form, in amounts that require specific procedures to avoid contamination, intake and unexpected exposures of the workers, in order to do not resulting doses over of the waited standards. The (RF) is committed to good work area management of all its potential risks, minimizing risks to the work area, and anticipating and addressing potential problems before they pose a threat to the quality of the local areas. The radiological protection team has established a radiological protection program whose purpose is to provide an adequate occupational worker protection system in agreement to national and international radiological protection standards. The main objective of this study is to correlate the unusual events occurred in the (RF), over the years, that in some way contributed with failure in the process that led to an intake and or an external exposure, or contamination in the workplace. For the analysis, the reports from the radiation protection supervisor, complemented by interviews with the workers and radiation protection officers were considered. Several indicators were identified from the analyses of data that can be used to evaluate the occupational radiation exposures received at (RF) facility. In addition, the radiological protection measures adopted, the lessons learned to prevent new events, of the same nature, and it benefits that include enhancing the workplace environment and reducing the number of incidents were implemented and discussed in this paper. The detailed nature of the data available allowed investigating the distribution and trends of the data. (author)

[en] Naturally occurring radionuclides in building materials are one of the sources of radiation exposure of the population. This study was undertaken with the purpose of determining radioactivity in some Cuban building materials and for assessing the annual effective dose to Cuban population due external gamma exposure in dwellings for typical Cuban room model. Forty four samples of raw materials and building products were collected in some Cuban provinces. The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides were determined by gamma ray spectrometry using a p-type coaxial high purity germanium detector and their mean values are in the ranges: 9 to 857 Bq.kg^-1 for ⁴⁰K; 6 to 57 Bq.kg^-1 for ²²⁶Ra; and 1.2 to 22 Bq.kg^-1 for ²³²Th. The radium equivalent activity in the 44 samples varied from 4 Bq.kg^-1 (wood) to 272 Bq.kg^-1 (brick). A high pressure ionisation chamber was used for measuring of the indoor absorbed dose rate in 543 dwellings and workplaces in five Cuban provinces. The average absorbed dose rates in air ranged from 43 nGy.h-1 (Holguin) to 73 nGy.h-1 (Camagueey) and the corresponding population-weighted annual effective dose due to terrestrial gamma radiation was estimated to be 145 ± 40 μSv. This dose value is 16% higher than the calculated value for typical room geometry of Cuban house. (author)

[en] Tritium in the UK environment causes low radiation doses to the public, but uncertainty exists in the dose coefficient for the organically-bound component of tritium (OBT). This can affect the assessment of effective doses to representative persons. Contributing to that uncertainty is poor knowledge of the body retention time of OBT and how this varies for different OBT compounds in food. This study was undertaken to measure the retention time of tritium by volunteers after eating sole from Cardiff Bay, which may contain OBT from discharges from the GE Healthcare Ltd. plant. Five volunteers provided samples of excreta over periods up to 150 days after intake. Preliminary analysis of the results suggests retention of total tritium with body half-times ranging from 4 to 11 days, with no evidence of a significant contribution due to retention with a longer half-time. This range covers the half-time of 10 days used by the ICRP for tritiated water. The short timescale could be due to rapid hydrolysis in body tissues of the particular form of OBT used in this study. Implications for the dose coefficient for OBT are that the use of the ICRP value of 4.2 10^-11 Sv Bq^-1 may be cautious in this specific situation, and the value of 1.6 10^-11 Sv Bq^-1 used by the ICRP for tritiated water might even be more appropriate. These observations on dose coefficients are separate from any implications of recent discussion on whether the tritium radiation weighting factor should be increased from 1 to 2. (author)

[en] The International Atomic Energy Agency (the Agency) is authorized, by its statute, to establish or adopt safety standards for the protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property, and to provide for their application to its own operations as well as to operations under its control or supervision. The Agency has been assisting, since the mid 1960's, its Member States through mainly its Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to improve their national radiation safety infrastructures. However up to the early nineties, assistance was specific and mostly ad hoc and did not systematically utilize an integrated and harmonized approach to achieving effective and sustainable national radiation safety infrastructures in Member States. An unprecedented and integrated international cooperative effort was launched by the Agency in 1994 to establish and/or upgrade the national radiation safety infrastructure in more than 90 countries within the framework of its TCP through the so-called Model Project on Upgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure. In this project proactive co-operation with Member States was used in striving towards achieving an effective and sustainable radiation safety infrastructure, compatible with the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (the BSS) and related standards. Extension to include compatibility with the guidance of the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources occurred towards the end of the Model Project in December 2004, and with the more recent ensuing follow up projects that started in 2005. The Model Project started with 5 countries in 1994 and finished with 91 countries in 2004. Up to the end of 2007 more than one hundred Member States had been participating in follow up projects covering six themes - namely: legislative and regulatory infrastructure; occupational radiation protection; radiation protection in medical exposures; radiation protection of the public; emergency preparedness and response; and education and training. Each of the participating countries had its specific Radiation and Waste Safety Infrastructure Profile (RaWaSIP) describing the status of its safety infrastructure measured against key requirements of the international standards; and detailed Action Plans to rectify identified safety gaps and to monitor progress achieved. In addition, a methodology to assess the effectiveness of the radiation safety infrastructure (Radiation Safety and Security Infrastructure Appraisal service, RaSSIA) was established and used. The paper describes the vision and strategy of the Model Project and its follow up projects, and the impressive results and outcomes so far achieved. The results show that there was more progress achieved, in establishing sustainable national radiation safety infrastructures, during the 12-14 years of the implementation of the Model Project and its follow up projects than in the previous nearly 40 years of assistance provided by the Agency. (author)

[en] An important contribution for Brazilian development, especially for the quality control of products, is the use of radiation sources by conventional industries. There are in Brazil roughly 3,000 radioactive sources spread out among 950 industries. The main industrial practices involved are: industrial radiography, industrial irradiators, industrial accelerators, well logging petroleum and nuclear gauges. More than 1,800 Radiation Protection Officers (RPOs) were qualified to work in these practices. The present work presents a brief description of the safety control over industrial radioactive installations performed by the Brazilian Regulatory Authority, i.e. the National Commission of Nuclear Energy (CNEN). This paper also describes the national system for radiation safety inspections, the regulation infrastructure and the national inventory of industrial installations. The inspections are based on specific indicators, and their periodicity depends on the risk and type of installation. The present work discusses some relevant aspects that must be considered during the inspections, in order to make the inspections more efficient in controlling the sources. One of these aspects regards the evaluation of the storage place for the sources, a very important parameter for preventing future risky situations. (author)

[en] ANSTO's Regional Security of Radioactive Sources (RSRS) Project, in cooperation with the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), has initiated a program to reduce the safety and security risks of orphan radioactive sources in the Philippines. Collaborative work commenced in February 2006 during the Regional Orphan Source Search and Methods Workshop, co-hosted by ANSTO and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Further professional development activities have occurred following requests by PNRI to ANSTO to support improvements in PNRI's capability and training programs to use a range of radiation survey equipment and on the planning and methods for conducting orphan source searches. The activities, methods and outcomes of the PNRI-ANSTO cooperative program are described, including: i. Delivering a training workshop which incorporates use of source search and nuclide identification equipment and search methodology; and train-the-trainer techniques for effective development and delivery of custom designed training in the Philippines; ii. Support and peer review of coursework on Orphan Source Search Equipment and Methodology developed by PNRI Fellows; iii. Supporting the delivery of the inaugural National Training Workshop on Orphan Source Search hosted by PNRI in the Philippines; iv. Partnering in searching for orphan sources in Luzon, Philippines, in May 2007. The methods employed during these international cooperation activities are establishing a new model of regional engagement that emphasises sustainability of outcomes for safety and security of radioactive sources. (author)

[en] The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), the national agency in the licensing and regulations of radioactive materials in the country, is strengthening its capabilities in the security of radioactive sources. Part of this program is the PNRI's participation in the Regional Security of Radioactive Sources (RSRS) Project of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO). The project has provided equipment and methods training, assistance in the development of PNRI's own training program and support for actual orphan source search activities. On May 2007, a source search for the two lost Cs-137 level gauges of a steel manufacturing company was conducted by the PNRI and ANSTO. The source search are the a) development of instrument and source search training for the team, the National Training Workshop on Orphan Source Searches which was organized and conducted as a result of train-the-trainors fellowship under the RSRS project and b) planning and implementation of the lost source search activity. The conduct of the actual search on warehouses, product yard, canals, dust storage, steel making building, scrap yards and nearby junkshops of the steel plant took one week. The week-long search did not find the lost sources. However, naturally occurring radioactive materials identified to be Thorium, were found on sands, bricks and sack piles that are stored and/or generally present in the warehouses, yard and steel making building. The search activity had therefore cleared the facility of the lost source and its corresponding hazards. The NORM found present in the plant's premises on the other hand brought the attention of the management of the needed measures to ensure safety of the staff from possible hazards of these materials. Currently, the course syllabus that was developed is continuously enhanced to accommodate the training needs of the PNRI staff particularly for the emergency response and preparedness. This component of the source security program is thus geared to sustain the capabilities of the Institute by developing the skills of its personnel and its readiness in the future. (author)