Abstract
The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has evolved in important ways in recent years, although it has remained the same in many ways too. Its first priority is still the promotion of radiological protection for the public good. It is still an independent organisation, formally a not-for-profit organisation registered with the UK Charity Commission. ICRP still has nearly 250 members, who are among the top experts in radiological protection science and policy from around the world.
Although ICRP’s raison d'être has not changed, significant strides have been made to modernise the way in which the organisation operates.
In 2011, the first ICRP strategic plan was released, covering 2011–2017. Notably, this plan included six initiatives, including ‘holding regular ICRP symposia’.
2012 saw the first open call for nominations for Committee membership (another initiative from the strategic plan). The result is that half of the Committee members in the current term (2013–2017) are new.
In the same year, ICRP re-organised how formal relations with other organisations are managed, to be more inclusive and more effective. The first annual meeting of liaison organisations was held in 2013, and today ICRP has formal relations with 18 organisations.
ICRP’s first code of ethics was released in 2014, to help ensure that our work is conducted with the highest of moral standards.
Since 2011, biennial international symposia have been a regular feature. ICRP 2011: the First ICRP Symposium on the International System of Radiological Protection was held in Bethesda, MD, USA.
The subject of these proceedings, ICRP 2013: the Second International Symposium on the System of Radiological Protection, was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was hosted by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation and kindly supported by: the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation; the UAE Armed Forces; the Abu Dhabi Health Authority; the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (specifically to make these proceedings open access); the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission; Cameco; Landauer Europe; and the Japan Radioisotope Association.
This series of international symposia is a cornerstone in ICRP’s efforts to engage more closely with the radiological protection community. Each symposium has attracted hundreds of people from all corners of the world. These proceedings play an important role in broadening this engagement beyond those who could attend in person.
Remarkably, these proceedings include a paper for almost every presentation made during ICRP 2013. In fact, these proceedings are more than complete, as included herein is one additional paper from ICRP 2011 that was accidentally not included in the 2011 Proceedings. We apologise sincerely for this oversight that is only now being corrected.
The papers here are the work of the individual authors. They are not recommendations of ICRP and do not necessarily represent the views of ICRP. However, being a complete set, they offer a good representation of the programme of ICRP 2013.
A debt of gratitude is owed to all presenters, and authors of the papers in these proceedings, for making ICRP 2013 a great success. Thank you as well to those who worked behind the scenes, particularly: ICRP Executive Assistant Lynn Lemaire; former ICRP Assistant Scientific Secretary Michiya Sasaki; ICRP Interns Taylor Whitter, Tudor Dragea, Rob Shakelton, Andrea Bauer, and Robert Martin; and all the FANR staff who worked tirelessly to make everything run as smoothly as possible.
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who attended ICRP 2011 and ICRP 2013. Your positive feedback inspires us to continue: 95% of those who responded to a questionnaire after ICRP 2013 recommended attendance at ICRP 2015: the Third International Symposium on the System of Radiological Protection in Seoul, Korea, October 20–22, 2015. Plans have even commenced for ICRP 2017. Stay tuned for more!