The Ionising Radiations Advisory Committee open meeting held on 10 October 2001
Why it was held
1. The Ionising Radiations Advisory Committee (IRAC) held its first open meeting on 10
October 2001 in response to a request from the Health and Safety Commission that all its
advisory committees should follow the Commission’s example and hold such meetings. Some
of the other advisory committees have already held open meetings and others are planning
to do so shortly.
Who attended
2. Personal letters, inviting applications to attend the meeting, were sent to all
those who had responded to the Consultative Document on the proposals for revised Ionising
Radiations Regulations - 181in all. The open meeting was publicised in HSE’s
newsletter Radiation Protection News (Issue 19 May 2001), via a press notice sent to
pertinent journals, and in a notice on the HSE web-site. This resulted in 73 applications
in total to attend the meeting. Six subsequently sent apologies or cancelled, which made
room for two late applicants so that, in the event, all who wished to come were given
places. 50 attended on the day. A list of those people who were sent individual letters
inviting applications to attend, those who asked for places and those who attended is
attached.
What it was about
3. The aim of the meeting was to enable members of the public to meet IRAC members and
to find out more about the Committee - how it works and the type of issues it deals with.
4. The first two sessions were devoted to short presentations describing IRAC’s work
and current and future influences on radiation protection generally. The third session was
a discussion forum. The agenda for the meeting and the presentations are reproduced in the
Information pack which is posted on the web at:
The pack, which was given to all delegates on arrival, also contained: information
about IRAC and its members; details of other relevant Government Departments, Agencies and
the National Radiological Protection Board; notes on relevant legislation; details of
other relevant Advisory Committees; notes on current issues; and a paper on Cancer Risks
at Low Doses of Ionising Radiation.
What people were interested in
5. Each session of presentations was followed by questions for clarification. Some of
the questions raised were not directly relevant to IRAC's work but, nevertheless, members
provided brief responses and referred questions on to others as appropriate. One question
had been notified in advance:
‘Do the members of IRAC agree that it is now regrettably reasonably foreseeable that
a loss of containment of radioactive material may occur at a nuclear facility as a result
of impact by an aeroplane or by other hostile acts and that this should be made clear in
published guidance on REPPIR?’
This question was not within IRAC’s remit (see the Information Pack for IRAC’s
terms of reference) but the Chairman of the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee, who was
present, offered to take the question to that Committee’s next meeting so that the
issues raised could be considered.
6. The third session of the meeting comprised an open forum. Issues discussed included:
-
Uncertainties about the risks associated with exposure to ionising radiation at low
levels and the concerns of some that it may be more dangerous than is currently reflected
in risk estimates. There is a debate on risk estimates - some
suggest that there should be a threshold and others that the risk estimates are too low.
It was noted that the European Parliament had adopted a resolution calling on the main
international bodies, including the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP),
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Scientific Committee on
Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the
European Commission, to re-examine the current risk model.
- How to communicate relative risk to the public, in order to put exposure to radiation
in the context of other risks that we all face.
- How to get stakeholders more involved, ie how to improve communication between
professionals and the public. The possibility that there may be different thresholds for
the onset of radiation damage from exposure to different types of radiation ;
this was agreed to be a complicated issue, especially in regulatory control.
- The new use of x-ray units at docks to screen vehicles for illegal immigrants. This had
been the subject of a Home Office consultation exercise, see www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk
- Access to and ownership of x-ray films and hospital records. In the UK, x-ray films are
generally owned by the organisations making them but may be passed to others involved in
the patient’s care, with the patient’s permission, to avoid unnecessary repeat
exposures. Lobbying to ensure that films are passed on to avoid unnecessary repeat x-rays
was seen as desirable. The Department of Health has specific guidance in England regarding
the release of x-rays with the patient’s consent.
- Evaluation of the impact of radiation protection legislation, those provisions which
had greatest effect and how those areas which still needed to improve, such as industrial
radiography, were being tackled.
- The perceived complexity of the system for obtaining HSE recognition for RPA bodies.
The comments received during the review of the HSE Statement on radiation protection
advisers, and HSE’s proposed response, would be discussed by a Focus Group - all the
papers for this group were on the Society for Radiological Protection’s web-site
www.srp-uk.org
- The need for a database showing where to apply for authorisations in other European
Union countries.
- The extent to which it was within IRAC's remit to offer advice to HSC/E on economic and
social factors relating to the optimisation of exposures in the various industrial,
medical, etc sectors in the UK. This linked to wider considerations, including the work of
the United Kingdom Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment.
- Various aspects relating to handling radiation accidents.
- How to improve compliance with the legislative provisions relating to proactive
radiation protection, eg prior risk assessment.
- How IRAC would be affected by the Health and Safety Commission’s review of its
advisory committees. Attendees were informed that the outcome of this review was still
awaited.
- Praise for HSE’s consultation processes but a plea for publication of the long
awaited revision of PM77, on fitness of equipment used for medical exposure. A draft would
be circulated for external consultation in November.
The meeting ended at 1300.
Ionising Radiations Advisory Committee
November 2001
List of attendees
Added to HSE website 27 November 2001
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