At a time of significant development in the use of ionizing radiation in the medicine and industry, as well as in the revival of nuclear industry, the radiation protection profession is facing the challenge of enhancing RP culture throughout the world. As the voice of radiation protection professionals, IRPA has initiated a process to develop Guiding Principles for promoting Radiation Protection Culture.

The first IRPA workshop on Radiation Protection Culture will be held in Paris December 14 and 15. The objective of this first workshop is to gather and develop material to be used for preparing a document to stimulate discussion within IRPA Associate Societies and at the forthcoming IRPA regional congresses on enhancement of radiation protection culture worldwide. The workshop participants will be encouraged to facilitate further discussions in their societies.  A second workshop is planned for the United States later in 2010.

Each IRPA Associate Society is invited to send two representatives to this workshop. Additional information on the Workshop and accommodations can be is available on the IRPA Web Site. Please address questions to the General Secretary, Jacques Lombard, by email to his SFRP assistant, Janine Cervera: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sisko Salomaa, the Research Director of Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), has been given a valued European award for her work in research on radiation effects. The European Radiation Research Society (ERRS) presented the Bacq and Alexander prize to Prof. Salomaa at their Annual Meeting in Prague. The Bacq and Alexander award has been presented annually since 1996 to an outstanding European researcher to recognize the achievements of the awardee in the field of radiation research. Previous recipients include the 2008 Sievert Award winner, Christian Streffer.

In making its selection, the Society emphasized the merits of Prof. Salomaa as the leader in research of European radiation biology. She has been responsible for the radiation research strategy at STUK for twelve years. Prof. Salomaa also acts as the coordinator of the European NOTE (Non-targeted effects of ionizing radiation) project. The main focus of the project is the health effects of low doses of radiation and especially non-targeted effects of ionizing radiation.

Sisko Salomaa, who has been a member of the IRPA Executive Council since 2004, has coordinated several multi-national EU research contracts, particularly on non-targeted effects and low dose risk. In 2008-09, she was member of the High Level Expert Group on Low Dose Risk that established the low dose risk research strategy for Europe. At the national level, she has served committees and advisory groups related to environmental health research, nuclear energy, CBRN defense and medicine and national security research program.

Prof. Salomaa was trained in genetics and started her research career in genetic toxicology (chemical mutagenesis) at the Institute of Occupational health in 1981. She was appointed as Docent in Genetics at the University of Helsinki in 1990. Since 1987 she has worked in STUK, first as scientist and senior scientist, in 1992-97 as Director of Laboratory for Biodosimetry and, since 1997 as Research Director of STUK. STUK research activities cover main aspects of radiation protection (health, environmental and medical exposures, dosimetry, emergency preparedness, NIR). She has served as advisor to IAEA (eg. SAGNA, Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications), European Commission (Article 31 Group), WHO (Director of WHO Collaborating Centre) and OECD/NEA (CRPPH; Expert Group on the Implications of Radiation Protection Science). She joined the ICRP Committee 1 in 2009.

Last April, a letter was sent to all IRPA Associate Societies with a call for Sievert Award Nominations. This is a reminder that the nominations are due May 15, 2010. This may seem like a long time away. However, considering the importance of the Sievert Award and the work that needs to be done to prepare the nomination package, the time will pass quickly.

As a minimum, the nomination should include:

• A 250-word outline of the particular contributions the candidate has made in the field of radiation protection that are the basis for the nomination and that would justify the candidate's selection as the recipient of the Award.
• The formal assurance that the candidate is the official nominee of an IRPA Associate Society.
• A current CV for the candidate, including a summary, approximately 500 words, of the candidate's career.
• Any pertinent supporting documentation.

Please seriously consider making a nomination for the 2012 Siev and send your nomination with the accompanying documentation to:

Renate Czarwinski
Chair, Sievert Award Selection Committee
International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramer Strasse 5
P.O. Box 200
1400 VIENNA
Austria

If you prefer to submit the nomination electronically, it may be sent with the accompanying documentation to Renate Czarwinski at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Amendment to the ICNIRP "Statement on Medical Magnetic Resonance (MR) Procedures: Protection of Patients" and a Statement on the "Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric, Magnetic and Electromagnetic Fields (up to 300 GHz)" will be published in the September issue of the Health Physics Journal. The two documents are also available for cost free download at:

www.icnirp.org/index.html.