Re: IAEA Conference: Radioprotection of the Environment

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@HOTMAIL.COM>]

Some photos:

http://www.ssi.se/nyheter/SSI_IAEA_Sto_bild.html



The conference is now over.

As a clarification: Environment is defined as biota + abiota.



If I understood a member from Greenpeace right, it was wrong

to start with science and numbers and then derive (down->up)

the regulations. Instead of the numbers it should just be said

(regulated, up->down) that radioactivity could not be in certain

places (the numbers were unimportant).

He also argued for radioprotection of abiota in certain pristine

locations. If I misinterpreted anything I am willing to take it back

but I am pretty sure that this was the message.



There is now a suggested list of RAPs = reference animals and plants (ICRP 

91):

Frog, rodent, pine tree, grass, plaice, freshwater fish, marine snail, brown 

seaweed...

(something like that - haven't had publication 91 in my hand yet)



The reference organism is only a reference - and then the differences

between this organism and whatever you may have should be described.



A Brazilian regulator questioned this and said that it would be difficult

for him to communicate a pine tree as a reference to a banana tree

to the general public in Brazil. He also pointed at the strong climatic

over Brazil (north-south). The idea from ICRP, if I understand it right,

is that secondary reference sets (of RAPs, reference lakes or whatever)

should be established.



The overall purpose is consistency and harmony with other environmental

regulation.



There are many knowledge gaps recognized - I have a feeling that some

scientists get eurodollars in their eyes when they think about all the

unknowns.



My personal initiative only,



Bjorn Cedervall    bcradsafers@hotmail.com



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