WE‐C‐211‐01: International Radiation Safety Standards and Systems

Abstract

International organizations play an important role in establishing roles, responsibilities and needs of medical physicists, be it for radiation protection or functional needs. The international Standards of safety (Basic Safety Standards‐BSS) steered by the IAEA and the European BSS provide requirements that may be mandatory directly or indirectly. In addition, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) provides principles of radiation protection. Both the IAEA and the EC have provided requirements for medical physicist to be in place, previously dominantly for radiotherapy and more recently for diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and other practices that utilize ionizing radiations. There are a number of new requirements in both BSS that are likely to be released in 2012–2013 but drafts are available. Besides requirements, international organizations provide means to meet requirements. These are training material and actions directed at both human resource development and development and enrichment of skills, capacity building through provision of equipment, publications and guidelines to promote rational and safer practice. A large number of IAEA and EC projects provide assistance towards the goals of organizations and there are many publications of IAEA, EC and ICRP that medical physicists should be aware of. Recent statement of the ICRP on tissue reaction lowering threshold and dose limit for lens of the eye and circulatory disease is of interest. EC has developed guideline on medical physics expert. The talk will review activities of IAEA, EC, and ICRP with focus on medical physicists and the impact in less resourced countries.Learning Objectives:1. To understand the system that has influence on countries outside US pertaining to activities of interest to medical physicists2. To become familiar with actions pertaining to medical physics experts and requirements on radiation protection3. To become familiar with new information from ICRP on thresholds and dose limits for tissue reaction4. To understand the potential role you can play in international activities