Blue Ribbon Panel Established to Review the RERF

[Joseph.Weiss@hq.doe.gov]

The U.S. Dept. of Energy and the Japanese Ministry of Health & Welfare have 
established an "International Blue Ribbon Panel" to review carefully and in 
depth the current and future activities of the Radiation Effects Research 
Foundation (RERF) in Japan.
     
The establishment of the Panel, under the chairmanship of Professor Roger 
Clarke, Chairman of the International Commission on Radiological Protection 
(ICRP) and Director of the UK National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), 

follows widespread debate on the future of the RERF.  The goal of the Panel 
will be to strengthen and enhance the scientific contributions of RERF.  The 

Panel is composed of experts not previously involved in RERF activities, and 

consists of eight members, in addition to the Chairman, as follows. Drs. 
Tadao 
Shimao and Wataru Mori from Japan; Drs. Jack Geiger and Herbert Abrams from 
the U.S., with four international experts: Dr. Valerie Beral (UK), Dr. Dan 
Beninson (Argentina), Dr. Albrecht Kellerer (Germany) and Dr. Keith Lokan 
(Australia).

The terms of reference of the Panel are to make recommendations on:
 a) the content and quality of the current research programme; 
 b) what future research should be conducted;
 c) the importance and merit of research conducted at RERF;
 d) areas of research that could be conducted with other institutions,
    both in Japan and worldwide; and
 e) an assessment of the scientific peer review process.
     
The Panel is expected to identify areas in which RERF can contribute to 
other organisations in the world with its information and expertise and to 
identify how worldwide radiation research may be advanced using these data. 
The future health studies of the survivors and their descendants will have 
to be carefully considered in the report.
The Panel intends to meet in February, visiting RERF at Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki.  A final report is expected by July 1996.
     
Anyone interested in submitting views for consideration by the Panel should 
address them to the Technical Assistant to the Panel:
     
                Dr. Colin R. Muirhead
                National Radiological Protection Board 
                Chilton, Didcot, Oxon  OX11 ORQ
                United Kingdom
                Telephone:      (44) 1235 822808
                FAX:            (44) 1235 833891
                e-mail:         643-5950 @ MCIMAIL.COM
     
     
     
     (NRPB Press Release)