Reimagining radiological risk communication in Canada

Abstract

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is Canada’s nuclear regulatory body responsible for regulating the development, production, and use of nuclear energy and the production, possession, and use of nuclear substances. The CNSC achieves this through a highly regimented licensing process for activities under its mandate that includes engagement with the public and Indigenous Nations and communities who may be potentially affected by the activity to be licenced. This engagement is needed to disseminate objective scientific and technical information and ensure confidence in the regulatory competence of the CNSC. The risk of receiving unwanted exposures from licenced activities and how that exposure would impact a population’s health, quality of life, and way of life are among the concerns routinely communicated to the CNSC during engagement. The CNSC typically addresses such concerns through the conveyance of anticipated doses, how those anticipated doses adhere to regulatory criteria, and how those anticipated doses compare to other more commonplace exposures such as from medical procedures. This article explores the disability adjusted life year (DALY) as a potential metric for improving existing radiological risk communication. The DALY is used in public health to quantify a population’s burden of disease in terms of years of healthy life lost. Radiation exposure can be potentially included as one of many risk factors that already impact a population’s health. In doing so, a more intuitive understanding of radiation risk and how it will impact a population’s quality of life may be achieved.