IRPA Report from the WNA Annual Symposium 12 September 2014

IRPA was invited to be part of a panel discussion on radiation protection during the prestigious Annual Symposium of the World Nuclear Association in London, September 2014, and were represented by Vice President Roger Coates. The discussion followed a short presentation by Wolfgang Weiss on the UNSCEAR Report of Fukushima, who was also a panellist. Other panel members were Willie Harris (Exelon), and Malcolm Grimston (a nuclear commentator from Imperial College, London), and the panel was chaired by Jack Valentin.

It was a good session with lively debate, and was well received. The key themes emerging from the debate included the ongoing (but challenging) requirement to enhance public understanding of radiation and its risks, the need to be honest in communication of these risks – both in terms of neither under-playing nor over-playing what we currently understand, and the need for our system of protection to recognise the wider potential health effects resulting from evacuations and relocations.

The panel, moderated by independent consultant Jack Valentin