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Closing summary

2008-07-23

The Emergency Preparedness and Rehabilitation session addressed the importance of a good system for radiological protection in emergency situations and the need for subsequent countermeasures.

Many research projects, decision aiding tools and revised international recommendations aiming at a better response to accidents were presented. Sophisticated models covered the radiological assessment of marine, terrestrial, freshwater and urban environments.

Accident scenarios included malevolent acts from disaffected groups which poses new challenges. It is important to learn from the past, and remember that some accidents can cause the need for long-term follow up and management, possibly for decades. The important involvement of affected groups in the elaboration of a management strategy should not be forgotten.

When performing Risk Assessments, there are a range of parameters that feed into the process. All these parameters are associated with uncertainties. The uncertainties have to be addressed in an appropriate manner and communicated to the regulators and the public.

Due to the current knowledge gaps, we are using conservative estimates, applying safety factors and the system of reference organisms. To improve our models in order to make more realistic assessments, new and/or refined research data are needed. Nevertheless, such assessments can be a useful tool to predict consequences of our actions and can be used for the protection of both humans and non-human biota, for new practices or legacies of the past.

Some of the models presented, are aimed at Protection of the Environment, another important session of this conference. During this week we have seen proofs that radiation induces responses in plants and animals even at very low doses. Whether these responses are harmful or not, we do not know yet. The uncertainties are even bigger if you try to extrapolate from individuals to a population or ecosystem level, and multiple stressors are complicating the picture even more. More research is needed in this field to reduce uncertainties and improve parameter values.

There is ongoing work to develop regulatory systems for the protection of non-human biota and continuous national work to adapt international recommendations to local situations.

We have seen this week the need for research, tools, regulations and international cooperation in order to protect the environment and humans to an adequate level, based on scientific evidence, for existing situations and for the future.

We hope this conference has inspired you to continue your scientific work, that you have made new contacts and helped you to see your work in a broader context.

We feel the conference has brought together the larger community in radioecology, radiation protection and related scientific fields. The mix of scientists, regulators, industry and members from international organisations has been very positive and reflects the societal reality.

Closure notes from the conference.

Further summary and recommendations from the conference will be posted on the web site in August.

Practical information for presentations

2008-06-09

For those participants giving oral or oral poster presentations please note the following :

Preferred file format: Microsoft Powerpoint

Technical Assistants will be available at the start of each day (08:00 to 09:00) and during the various coffee and lunch breaks to help in transferring presentation files onto the conference computers. We strongly suggest that you have your files saved on USB memory although DVD/compact discs will also be accepted.

Anyone who has video footage/animation in their presentation is requested to contact the Technical Assistants the day before their talk in order to check for software compatability. You an also contact the Technical Assistants to run a general compatability test for your presentation (i.e. see if your presentation "works") but please do so in plenty of time, at least 24 hours before your talk.

Presentation files may be sent before the conference to the following email address (we suggest that you also bring a back-up copy in case these pre-sent files become mislaid)

presentation@radioecology.info

Please also contact the technical support at this email address if you want to present your talk in another format to those specified above.You can also send a message to this email address if you have any other technical questions about your presentation.

Posters to be displayed at the conference should maximum be A0 size ie approx 85 cm (W) x 120 cm (H). (33.45" x 47.25")

Final programme

2008-06-03

The final programme for the conference is now available. It can be downloaded here.

Young Investigator’s Award - Winners

2008-04-24

The extended abstracts submitted by Young Investigators have now been reviewed by external referees. The Awards for the 4 highest standard submissions have been won by:

This group of scientist will receive EURO 1200 as a travel grant and will be awarded certificates during a small ceremony at the Conference

Posters

2008-02-28

Posters to be displayed at the conference should maximum be A0 size ie approx 85 cm (W) x 120 cm (H). (33.45" x 47.25")

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Practical information

Bergen - world heritage city

The conference is to be arranged in Bergen, declared by UNESCO as a World heritage city. For information on Bergen, see visitbergen.com
How to get to Bergen

Important dates

December 1st 2007
Accepted autors will be contacted
March 1st 2008
Deadline for updated abstract for accepted authors
June 15 - 20 2008
Conference

Members of the scientific committee

The scientific committee for the conference has the following members:

Mikhail Balonov
Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene, Russian Federation
Jean-Claude Barescut
Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, France
Francois Bréchignac
Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, France
Zhanat Carr
World Health Organisation
Fernando P. Carvalho
Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, Portugal
David Copplestone
Environment Agency, UK
Jacqueline Garnier-Laplace
Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, France
Jose M. Godoy
Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria, Brazil
Kathryn Higley
Oregon State University, USA
Brenda Howard
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK
Carl-Magnus Larsson
Swedish Radiation Protection Authority
Astrid Liland
Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority
Jacques Lochard
Centre d´étude sur l´Evaluation de la Protection dans le domaine Nucléaire
Didier Louvat
International Atomic Energy Agency
George Brownless
OECD/NEA
Vincent McClelland
U.S. Department of Energy, USA
Carmel Mothersill
McMaster University, Canada
Gerhard Pröhl
GSF-Institute of Radiation Protection, Germany
Kazuo Sakai
National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan
Tarja K. Ikäheimonen
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Finland
Brit Salbu
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Pauline Schüller
Universidad Austral de Chile
Nataly Shandala
Institute of Biophysics, Russian Federation
Stephen Sheppard
Journal of the Environmental Radioactivity
Per Strand
Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority
Hildegarde Vandenhove
SCK*CEN, Belgium Nuclear Research Centre
Anders Wörman
The Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden