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Published: 09 December 2009

The 13^th EAN Workshop will deal with "ALARA in the medical sector". It will be held from 7^th to 10^th June 2011 in Norway. More information will be available in the middle of 2010 on the EAN website.

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Published: 06 October 2009

The 24^th issue of the EAN Newsletter has now been published and can be read in the Newsletter section. You can also download it as a PDF document.

Contents of the Issue

• The management of the ⁶⁰Co contamination in lift buttons in European countries,
• ERPAN survey about healthy volunteers in biomedical research,
• Analyse of a reference dosimetry error in electron therapy in Switzerland.
  

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Published: 25 September 2009

In April 2009, HPA published an atlas of radon in homes in Scotland (HPA-RPD-051). The report brings together all the data held in the UK national radon database on radon levels in Scottish dwellings. It updates previous reports and presents the first complete radon probability map for the whole of Scotland including the inhabited off-shore islands.

Data from radon measurements in over 19,000 Scottish dwellings are presented in tabular format by local authority and by various divisions of the postcode system. A number of Radon Affected Areas are identified on the maps. It is recommended that a phased programme should be undertaken in the higher probability areas with the twin objectives of identifying homes with high radon levels and encouraging owners and landlords to reduce such levels. The full report can be download from the HPA Website.

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Published: 25 September 2009

On 17^th December 2008, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS, National Institute of Health, advisory body for the Minister of Health) organised the international workshop Depleted uranium research: an update, the sequel to a first workshop on the subject held in October 2004. The ISS's interest in this issue is due to the request made by the Minister to continue the research into the potential association between cancer incidence and exposure to DU. Indeed, in 2002 a statistically significant excess of Hodgkin's lymphoma was observed among the Italian peacekeeping forces who had been deployed in the Balkans. The workshop was an opportunity to share new scientific research result and research prspects, as well as future activity programs. Key issues were epidemiological studies on exposed personnel, studies of the biological effects of DU, and environmental and biological monitoring. The programme of the workshop, the abstracts and the slides of the presentations can be found on the ISS website.

The Workshop summary is only available in Italian, in compliance with a request of the Heath Minister to keep Italian population updated about the DU issue, but abstracts and slides are in English.

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Published: 25 September 2009

Work in connection with revision of the basic regulation for radiation protection and use of radiation has been going on for several years, and drafts are now being circulated for comments. The former basic regulations have been split into two regulations: one for radiation protection and one for environmental prtection. The environmental regulation contains a number of nuclide-specific tables, defining various exemption and clearance levels. The revised radiation protection regulations are tightened on several points. Stricter requirements for medical screening programs are introduced, and the issue of self-referral has been addressed. Also stricter requirements for radon concentrations in school and kindergartens are suggested. Concerning non-ionising radiation, the most dramatic change refers to the introduction of 18-year limit and staffing requirements for tanning studios. Both regulations are planned to come into force from January 1^st 2010.

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Published: 25 September 2009

In 2008, the European Commission organised its Scientific Seminar on "Emerging evidence for radiation induced circulatory diseases". Five lectures on new data from epidemiological and radiobiological studies were given by scientists actively working in the field of radiation induced circulatory diseases. More information can be found on the EC webpage.

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Published: 29 July 2009

The European ALARA Network for NORM (EAN_NORM) is organizing its 2^nd Workshop from 24^th to 26^th November, 2006 in Dresden (Germany). This Workshop will follow the spirit of the first edition. It will mainly be devoted to the dissemination of topical information/knowledge on good radiation protection practices concerning the NORM industru and other work activities.

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Published: 29 July 2009

In 2005 the French nuclear safety authority (ASN) requested the French Comittee of Non-Destructive Testings (COFREND) to work on improving radiation protection in gammagraphy. To perform this task COFREND asked for collaboration with the French Radiation Protection Society (SFRP). Thus in 2006-2007, 9 working groups on different topics (for instance, regulation, training, dosimetry, risk assessment at the workplace, etc.) were set up and in January 2008 a seminar was organized to synthetize and discuss the conclusions of the working groups.

A special edition of the French journal "Radioprotection" including the results of that work was published in late 2008. The documents (only in French) can be freely consulted here.

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Published: 11 June 2009

The 12^th EAN Workshop took place in Vienna (Austria) from 21^st to 23^rd October 2009. It dealt with "ALARA issues arising for Safety and Security of Radiation Sources and Security Screening Devices".

The full papers and PowerPoint presentations are downloadable in the Workshop section.

NEW: The Conclusions of the 12^th EAN Workshop are now available in the Workshop section. The PPT files reporting the discussions of the Working Group are also downloadable. They are the result of the Working Group discussions. They have not been modified by the Editorial Team.

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Published: 05 June 2009

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII), the Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering of the St. Jame's Hospital and the Faculty of Radiologists, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland are organising an International Symposium on "Non-Medical Imaging Exposures". It will be held in Dublin (Ireland) on 8-9 October 2009. As it is funded by EC, there is no registration fee.

This symposium is a follow-up to the 2002 European Commission Symposium on "Medico-Legal Exposures". Proceedings of this previous symposium can be found in Radiation Protection 130.

Download the leaflet.

More information on the website: www.medicolegal.ie