Ethics and culture in radiation protection – Reflections after 11th Symposium of the Croatian radiation Protection Association

Poje Sovilj, Marina; Krajcar Bronić, Ines (2017) Ethics and culture in radiation protection – Reflections after 11th Symposium of the Croatian radiation Protection Association. IRPS bulletin, 31 (4). pp. 8-12. ISSN 1327-8533

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Abstract

Eleventh Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association with international participation was held in Osijek, Croatia, April 5 – 7, 2017. Osijek was the host town of the Symposium for the first time. Symposium was organized by CRPA and co-organized by the Department of Physics of the University of Osijek, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ruđer Bošković Institute and State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety. Presidents of the Organizing and Scientific Committees were Marina Poje Sovilj and Vanja Radolić, respectively, from the Department of Physics of the University of Osijek. The Symposium was attended by ninety participants: seventy of them came from Croatian scientific research and government institutions, universities, health and economy sector, and twenty participants from abroad – there were representatives from Denmark, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. The scientific part of the meeting was divided into the following subjects: General topics in radiation science and radiation protection, Ethics and culture in radiation protection, Radiation protection in medicine, Biological effects of radiation, Radiation dosimetry, Instrumentation and measurement techniques, Radioecology, Exposure of the general population to radiation, Radon, and Non-ionizing radiation. A total of 61 papers were accepted for presentations, 26 of them in the form of posters and 35 as fifteen-minute oral presentations. The Proceedings was printed in a traditional yellow color and is also available on internet page www.hdzz.hr. Abstracts of all papers in English are sent to the International Nuclear Information System (INIS), hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which already contains abstracts from the previous CRPA symposia. The presentations have drawn the attention to some important issues in radiation protection such as: inadequate translation of the European Commission's laws, directives and recommendations concerning various aspects of ionizing radiation protection from English into the Croatian language ; harmonization of conditions for radiation protection experts (RPE) and medical physics experts (MPE) ; problem of finding a radioactive waste disposal site in the Republic of Croatia ; implementation of the EU directive on the protection against ionizing radiation ; radon exposure both to the general population and to the professionally exposed groups. The main topic and the motto of the 11th CRPA Symposium was „Ethics and Culture in Radiation Protection“. During the last two decades International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) has been devoting attention to these topics on various regional and international congresses, special workshops and Internet page www.irpa.net. Another international association, the International Commission on Radiological protection (ICRP), also intensively prepares a publication on the ethical foundations of the system of radiological protection. Two introductory lectures presented ethical values underpinning the radiation protection systems including the historical development of ethical principles, and current status of radiation protection culture in medicine. The concept of culture relates to the ideas, beliefs and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a society. Therefore, radiation protection culture can be understood as a combination of habits and knowledge of radiation protection in all its aspects for workers, patients, population and the environment, and in all exposure situations, combining scientific and social dimensions. The next presentation discussed the important question of using ionizing radiation in pediatrics, and finally an interesting survey of medical students’ opinion about the importance of radiation protection education was presented. IRPA Code of Ethics was adopted in 2004. It contains principles that should be regarded as guidelines to the members of IRPA and its associated societies in maintaining a professional level of ethical conduct related to radiation protection. CRPA accepted the IRPA Code of Ethics in 2009 in its original English version. The translation to Croatian was prepared this year and accepted by the CRPA General Assembly. Both language versions are available on Internet and in the Proceedings.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	CRPA Symposium; ethic and culture; radiation protection; Osijek
Subjects:	NATURAL SCIENCES > Physics NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences
Divisions:	Division of Experimental Physics
Depositing User:	Ines Krajcar Bronić
Date Deposited:	24 Jan 2018 14:27
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/3932

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