Refresher Course Programme
MONDAY
RC1	Biological effects and individual human radio-susceptibility	Michel Bourguignon IRSN	Regarding the biological effects of ionising radiation there is evidence of some degree of individual susceptibility in humans (up to 25 % of the population). Individual susceptibility to ionising radiation has 3 features which are related to different mechanisms and pathways: 1- sensitivity with the complications of radiation therapy in the absence of error in the dose delivery, 2- esthesia which is a radiation related cancer proneness, and 3- degeneration with late effects on tissues, i.e., cataracts. Modern radiation biology means of investigation allow to identify those persons, especially patients, and may help in the near future the screening of people for preventive and personalized medicine.
RC2	Dosimetry and optimisation in computed tomography	Christoph Trauernicht UCT	This course will give an overview of current CT dosimetry techniques, including recent developments for modern wide beam scanners. Optimisation methods for patient exposures will be reviewed, including both equipment & technique factors, and the correct utilisation of new dose-saving features on modern CT equipment will be discussed.
RC3	Management systems for radiation safety	Phil Metcalf ENSTTI	The management systems concept for radiation safety has evolved over a number of years. The concept has developed from quality control through quality assurance and quality management to the present day integrated management system. The concept involves systematic planning, controlled implementation and continuous review and assessment to assure high levels of quality in radiation safety and protection operations and supporting services. The course presents and discusses the management system for radiation safety and its evolution.
RC4	Radiological protection in the oil, gas, and mining industries	Mohammad Aref Weatherford	A large variety of radiation sources is used in the oil and gas industry: radiation generators, including also neutron generators; sealed gamma and neutron sources; and unsealed radioactive sources as radiotracers. This large global industry is actively operating in many countries of the world (from the cold oil fields near the pole to the arid environments of the Middle East), in a variety of extreme and harsh weather conditions which represent a significant technical challenge for man and his equipment. Moreover, oil & gas explorations (and, similarly, the mining industry), concentrate -during their operation- radioactive materials which are naturally present in the ores. The accumulation of such 'Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials' (NORMs) may lead to significant radiological exposure conditions both for operational radiation protection of Operators and for radioactive waste/material management (offering some vibrant regulatory implications for the protection of the environment, especially regarding regulation and destiny of resulting concentrated radioactive materials/waste). This RC will summarise the uses of radiation sources in the oil&gas and mining industries, and present radiological issues arising from NORMs in these fields, indicating some of the technical solutions and good practices which have been developed and agreed at an international level. Guidance from the IAEA and the ICRP will also be presented.
RC5	Emergency risk communication: Principles and challenges	Patrick Meschenmoser IAEA	140 Characters to Tell what's Safe: How to tell the public in plain language what's safe and what's not has always been a challenge and is fiercely discussed. In the age of social media, when 140 characters is all you have to convey your message on Twitter, the challenge got even bigger. This workshop focuses on the need of plain language public communications during a radiation emergency and how the use of social media has changed the game.
TUESDAY
RC6	DACTARI, a database for chemical toxicity and radiotoxicity assessment of radionuclides	Eric Ansoborlo CEA	DACTARI (DAtabase for Chemical Toxicity and Radiotoxicity Assessment of Radionuclides), is a specific database available on the website (http://www.toxcea.org/index.php?pagendx=84) and presented under Mendeleyev Periodic table form, which provides selected data on chemical form of the compounds, and on acute or chronic toxicity including contamination route (ingestion, inhalation), lethal doses, target organs, intestinal and maternal-fetal transfer, drinking water guidelines, mutagenic and carcinogenic properties, doses per unit of intake, and information on contamination treatment or decorporation. This database currently contains 33 radionuclides.
RC7	Implementation of the new Basic Safety Standards	Tony Colgan IAEA	ICRP published updated recommendations for radiation protection in 2007 and the International and European Basic Safety Standards were subsequently revised to take account of the recommendations. The revisions included a restructuring to present the requirements for radiation protection and the safety of radiation sources in terms of planned, emergency and existing exposure situations considering occupational exposure, public exposure and medical exposure. It harmonised the requirements for exposure to both natural and artificial sources of radiation and updated a number of radiation protection criteria related to limitation of dose to the lens of the eye and from radon. The course summarises the revisions to the standards and more recently developed guidance on meeting the requirements.
RC8	Internal dose assessments, including transuranics	Dick Toohey M H Chew & Associates	This refresher course will cover both the fundamental principles of internal radiation dosimetry and its practical applications. The ICRP models for intake, biokinetics and dosimetry will be reviewed as will the resulting dose coefficients. Bioassay methods will be discussed, and the use of intake and retention fractions to relate bioassay results to intakes will be described. Finally, several examples of internal dose assessments will be presented to illustrate the use of the models.
RC9	Radiological respiratory protection	Marcos Amaral SBPR	The course brings details regarding the radiological respiratory risks according types of radiation, physical forms and associated working environment. Presenting the surveys and controls, estimates of dose assessment, specification of respiratory protection and applicable engineering controls on the job, also discussing the respiratory protection devices, filters and qualitative and quantitative fit tests, is possible the attendee to develop at least a basic respiratory protection program, based on the ANSI Z88.2 and on the best respirator protection standards over the world nuclear industry.
RC10	Site reference criteria for remediation of contaminated land	Steven Brown SHB Inc	Criteria for decision making on food, milk and drinking water restrictions in a nuclear or radiological emergency: Long term restriction of consumption of contaminated food, milk and drinking water is one of the protective actions to be taken in nuclear or radiological emergency in order to reduce the risk of stochastic effects as far as reasonably possible. In emergencies with potential risk for radioactive contamination of the environment, restricting consumption and distribution of local food, milk and drinking water should be precautionary implemented immediately after the declaration of the emergency. In order to introduce actions on food, milk and drinking water, generic and operational criteria have to be developed at the planning stage and used during an emergency as soon as environmental measurements (gamma dose rates) and food, milk and water analysis are performed and the results become available. These criteria should be considered also a basis for discontinuing restrictions imposed on food, milk and drinking water when these measures are not anymore justified. The IAEA Safety Standards provide for a comprehensive set of criteria and detailed guidance on their application. This Refresher Course will focus on presentation of the IAEA set of criteria for decision making on food, milk and drinking water restrictions in a nuclear or radiological emergency.
WEDNESDAY
RC11	Dose Reduction Optimisation at Nuclear Power Plants: ALARA Programs for Design, Operation & Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants	Willie Harris Exelon	The course describes ALARA successes and lessons learned from over 40 years or nuclear power plant operation. Early and comprehensive ALARA reviews of the reactor and balance of plant designs of new nuclear plant are critical to achieve of goal of low worker doses for the 60-80 years of reactor operations. Key elements of ALARA work planning, work selection, work scheduling, work execution and worker feedback are discussed in the course. Major refurbishments and plant component replacement are important periods of ALARA planning and work management to achieved safe, efficient and low dose optimization objectives. Highlights of ISOE expert group reports on ALARA aspects of new builds, operational radiological work management and decommissioning prepared by global Radiation Protection Managers from over 17 countries will be summarized. The course provides the attendee with an international perspective on ICRP-60 concept of dose justification and optimization from the radiation protection management perspective.
RC12	Hybrid imaging: Radiation safety challenges & compliance issues	Napapong Pongnapang ISRRT	This course will provide a review of hybrid technology and give an overview of radiation dosimetry and safety issues for both patients and staff. It will also include discussion of the training requirements for the imaging profession, and challenges in implementing this technology.
RC13	Computational dosimetry and modelling for medical applications	Pedro Vaz IST	The basics of computational (Monte Carlo, deterministic and hybrid) methods used for radiation protection and dosimetry in the medical applications of ionizing radiation will be presented. The use of computational anthropomorphic phantoms in support of patient and organ dose calculations will be described. The usefulness of the aforementioned computational methods and phantoms in medical dosimetry (in radiodiagnostic, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy) will be highlighted. Case studies will be discussed. The paradigm of the international system of radiological protection will be challenged, in view of on-going computational developments, namely the development of patient dependent phantoms for internal and external dosimetry in multiple exposure situations. Hot topics and future trends in computational dosimetry will be analysed.
RC14	The transport safety / transport security interface	Piet Bredell Nuclear Consultants cc	The transport of radioactive material is an expanding worldwide activity involving the delivery of products that are essential for public health, industry, agriculture, research, and energy production. Nuclear technologies have supported remarkable economic growth and health benefits in recent years in the world. This course will cover the interests of major stakeholders in the transport of radioactive materials, including competent authorities, producers and transport organizations. The goal of the course is to foster greater understanding and cooperation between safety and security during transportation. The course presents and discusses the management system for competing risks relating to safety, security and timely delivery of radioactive material. An important consideration for the industry is public perceptions of the risk involved in the transport of radioactive material.
RC15	Managing radionuclides in food and drinking water	Tony Colgan IAEA	Restricting the consumption of food and drinking water is one of the protective actions to be considered in the aftermath of a nuclear or radiological emergency. Such restrictions may continue well into the recovery phase, but there are many other situations in which elevated concentrations of radionuclides may be found in either food or drinking water. In circumstances where elevated concentrations are present over an extended period of time, some form of control or restriction may need to be considered. Radionuclides of natural origin will normally be present in both food and drinking water, albeit at concentrations that may be close to or below the detection limits of the measuring equipment. Radionuclides of artificial origin, arising from such as authorized discharges, the testing of nuclear weapons and past nuclear accidents, may also be present. International standards and guidance dealing with radionuclides in food and drinking water have been developed for application in non-emergency situations. The International Basic Safety Standards establishes an individual reference level of 1 mSv in a year for such exposures as the starting point for their application at the national level. Actions to restrict the consumption of food and drinking water need to be both justified and optimized. For wild foods such as mushrooms, berries and game sourced from semi-natural ecosystems, some form of restriction may be necessary over several years. In the case of drinking water, it is often possible to remove dissolved radionuclides in a cost-effective manner but a program of long term monitoring should be maintained.
THURSDAY
RC16	Non-ionising radiation measurements and compliance testing	Theodoros Samaras Aristotle University of Thessaloniki	The use of wireless devices is becoming ubiquitous, with the fast deployment of novel technologies, especially for communications and entertainment. At the same time public concern on the potential health effects from the emitted non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation from wireless equipment is soaring. Therefore, compliance of human exposure with the corresponding guidelines is essential to assure protection. In the far-field of sources measurements can be either broadband or frequency-selective. The former are faster to perform and require cheaper equipment than the latter; however, they do not provide specific information as to the contribution of various wireless technologies to the total exposure. The duration of measurements can also vary, since these can be spot measurements (in situ), which reflect a time-snapshot of the electromagnetic environment, or continuous, aiming at monitoring the fields at a specific point. The methodology and necessary equipment for conducting all these measurements, as well as the respective standards, recommendations and guidelines involved, will be discussed during the course.
RC17	RP challenges in radiotherapy imaging	Ola Holmberg IAEA	Imaging is increasingly used in many steps of the external beam radiotherapy treatment-chain, including in treatment planning, treatment delivery and treatment evaluation. Image-guided radiotherapy is a rapidly growing field. These imaging devices may use ionising radiation or non-ionising radiation. When using ionising radiation, justification as well as optimisation of protection and safety must be observed. The lecture will explore these challenges for radiation protection in radiotherapy imaging, as well as safety-learning from incidents and other events involving radiotherapy imaging devices and procedures.
RC18	Monitoring of dose to lens, skin, and extremities	Filip Vanhavere SCK"CEN	To protect the skin of the whole body, the extremities and the lens of the eye, separate dose limits are recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). These separate dose limits are needed because in case of localised exposures the organ doses to the skin and the lens of the eye can exceed these limits even when the effective doses may be lower than its limit. Specific dosimetry is needed to monitor these doses and to assess compliance with applicable limits. This refresher course will provide guidance on how and when this monitoring should be done, for all the different types of workplace fields.
RC19	Radiation protection aspects related to the handling and conditioning of disused sealed radioactive sources	Andy Tompkins IAEA	Sealed radioactive sources (SRS), when still in use, normally present very few problems. They are normally installed in different types of working shields and when applied in accordance with prescribed procedures provide for safe use. The management of sources, once they become disused, present many radiation protection challenges. These challenges are mostly encountered during the removal of disused sealed radioactive sources from their working shields and the conditioning of the sources in order to prepare them for disposal. Bare sources are handled and collected which, if not controlled properly, can lead to serious overexposure to workers. The refresher course will address the radiation protection protocols that should be implemented during Category 3 to 5 disused sealed radioactive source collection and conditioning operations while still allowing for effectively performing the respective conditioning activities.
RC20	Protection of biota: Methodologies and assessment tools	Brenda Howard Centre for Ecology and Hydrology	The course will give a brief overview of the current status of protection of the environment at international level. It will focus on the basis and application of currently available models to make an assessment of the dose. Strengths and weaknesses of the current approaches and their underlying data will be outlined. The use and potential abuse of currently used criteria will also be discussed.