STOA Workshop

[Kostas Ioannides <kioannid@cc.uoi.gr>]

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A STOA Workshop


Survey and evaluation of criticism of basic safety standards
 for the protection of workers and the public against ionising radiation


Brussels, 5 February, 1998


Second Announcement


A Workshop on the above subject, under the auspices of the STOA Unit of the European Parliament, will take place in Brussels on Thursday, 5 February, 1998. As specified in the First Announcement, the aim of the Workshop is to analyse and assess recent debate concerning basic safety standards for the protection of workers and the public against ionising radiation in a manner that will be useful to the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy (CERT) of the European Parliament, and to the Parliament as a whole, in their deliberations on this subject. The Workshop format chosen is intended to make it possible to hear presentations by independent experts on aspects of risk analysis, the reliability of empirical data from different sources, the validity of standard-setting criteria and to assess criticisms which have been made of standards recommended by the International Committee on Radiological Protection (ICRP).


Venue and time

The Workshop will take place in:

Room LEO 5-E-2 (Leopold building)
European Parliament
Rue Wiertz
B-1047 Brussels

starting at 9.00 and ending at 17.30 on 5 February, 1998. It will be divided into four Sessions with breaks for coffee and lunch between Sessions. Each of the four Sessions will contain formal presentations from invited 'expert speakers' with a question and answer period at the end of each Session. There will also be time for a number of short contributed oral presentations. The topics to be discussed in the four Sessions will be:

1. The current debate on basic safety standards for the protection of workers and the public against ionising radiation

2. Ionising radiation and biological systems
* Link between exposure rates and cancer (including leukaemia), congenital deformity and other disease.
* Exposure levels for children and pregnant women
* Sources and significance of occupational and public exposure from nuclear medicine
* Chronic exposure to low level radiation
* Radiological protection criteria for workers and the public

3. Risk assessment
* Evaluation of assessment techniques
* Methods of quantification of radioactive contamination and estimates of health risk
* Radioactive waste management

4. Legislation, validation and implementation
* The standards-setting process (ICRB, IAEA, EURATOM, National bodies)
* Theoretical validation of standards
* Public debate on standards
* Parliamentary control of the standard-setting process

A more detailed programme will be included in the Information Dossier, which will be distributed to all participants on the day of the Workshop.

'Expert speakers' confirmed to date include:

* Academician Rudolf M. Alexakhin, Director of the Russian Institute of Agricultural Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk, Russia.
* Dr Maria Belli, ENEA-DISP, Rome, Italy.
* Dr. Rosalie Bertell, International Institute of Concern for Public Health, Canada
* Dr. Chris Busby, Green Audit, United Kingdom.
* Professor Guenther Dietze, Head of the Ionising Radiation Division, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Chairman of EURADOS Germany.
* Professor John W. Hopewell, University of Oxford, Chairman of EULEP, United Kingdom.
* Dr. Stephen Kaiser, DGXI, European Commission.
* Professor Horst Kuni, Phillips-Univarsitaet Marburg, Marburg/Lahn, Germany.
* Dr. Alice Stewart, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
* Dr. Jack Valentin, Scientific Secretary of ICRP, Sweden.


Participation in the Workshop

The Workshop will be attended by

* Members of the European Parliament
* The invited 'expert speakers'
* Invited observers, mainly experts from organisations with a professional interest relevant to the subject matter of the Workshop.
* Other officials, notably, European Parliament and Commission officials, EP research assistants, etc.
* Other interested individuals. These could be representatives of organisations, research establishments or simply concerned individuals.

A list of individuals who have expressed the intent to participate as observers in the Workshop has been compiled by the Organisers and has been forwarded to the appropriate authorities of the European Parliament. All participants to the Workshop, who have received an official invitation as 'observers' by the Organisers, should present themselves at the reception of the Leopold building on the morning of 5 February 1998 to obtain their badges. Due to security regulations, no individual will be admitted to the Workshop unless he or she has been issued a formal invitation by the Organisers.

Last minute applications for participation in the Workshop - and certainly before 2 February 1998 - should be sent to:

Ms. Karin Sercu,
Tel. +32-222843748
Fax. +32-2-2849059
e-mail: ksercu@europarl.eu.int

However, last minute applicants should await official confirmation from Ms. Sercu before coming to the Workshop.


Language

English will be the working language of the Workshop. Simultaneous translation in French and German will also be available.


Additional information

Last minute information concerning the Workshop may be obtained, until 1 February 1998, by the Organisers at the following address:

Professor P.A. Assimakopoulos,
Department of Physics,
The University of Ioannina,
451 10 Ioannina,
Greece.

Tel.	+30-651-47235
	+30-651-98551

Fax	+30-651-98553

e-mail:   pasimak@cc.uoi.gr

CIRC2.doc