The Canadian Radiation Protection Agency’s (CRPA) held their annual conference this year in Vancouver at the Sheraton Wall Centre from May 25 - May 30, 2014. The conference brought together the top safety professionals from across Canada to think about issues from environmental safety to risk communication.
For several experts on-site at TRIUMF who focus on personnel safety systems, emissions and environmental monitoring, and waste management programs, it was a natural extension to present papers and deliver talks at the conference. As well, Paul Schaffer, head of Nuclear Medicine, shared on TRIUMF’s medical radioisotope production, which looks to address future isotope shortage concerns. With a hometown advantage, TRIUMF also hosted a tour of the laboratory and salmon BBQ for a group of about sixty delegates.
The CRPA consists of radiation safety professionals from universities, hospitals, uranium mining and refining industries, nuclear power plants, radiation safety consulting, and government agencies. Their mission is to “ensure the safe use of radiation by providing scientific knowledge, education, expertise and policy guidance for radiation protection (www.crpa-arcp.ca).” Conference participants included a strong delegation from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the federal regulator for all nuclear activities.
This year’s conference focused on managing risks-both real and imagined. Keynote speaker David Ropeik delivered the opening talk, Fear vs. Radiation. David Ropeik is an author and consultant in risk perception, risk communication, and risk management. He is an instructor at Harvard University’s School of Continuing Studies for the Environmental Management Program.
“David’s talk was an eye opener for many at the conference and was referenced multiple times by speakers as providing important insight into the perception of risk about radiation by members of the public,” said Anne Trudel, TRIUMF’s manager of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S). “In particular, David presented extensive research that highlighted the brain’s evolutionary physiology and the cultural messages around radiation that affect how the non-specialist perceives risks and the degree to which this colours their reception of information from specialists about radiation.”
Other
TRIUMF session speakers included Roxana Ralea
(Life-cycle of ISAC targets), Anne Trudel (Licensing ARIEL), Joe Mildenberger
(TRIUMF’s Environmental Air Monitoring Program) and Max Kinakin (TRIUMF’s
Effluent Air Monitoring Systems).
Several talks focused on the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear plant partial meltdown in 2011. Robin Brown, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, spoke about the importance of the sampling the department is conducting off the coast of Vancouver Island to monitor the transport of radioactive contaminants via ocean currents from Fukushima.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) presented an update on the work of the international community over the last three years to assess the health implications of the accident. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (2014) and the World Health Organization (2012 and 2013) reports show there have no been no immediate health effects from radiation and the long-term health effects are predicted to be minimal and potentially below detection limits.
TRUMF’s tour treated delegates and their companions to see the advances shared by TRIUMF scientists at the conference including the Meson Hall, where the effects of the cyclotron's magnet can be observed, and ISAC I and II where isotopes are studied in experiments. Some of TRIUMF’s young researchers led tours and shared their enthusiasm for their work. Each group had a member from EH&S to provide background information on aspects of radiation protection at the laboratory. Several delegates mentioned that the tour was the conference highlight, capping off an excellent week for CRPA members.
By Kyla Shauer, Communications Assistant, with Anne Trudel, Environmental Health & Safety Manager
Photos by Kyla Shauer - Top: Conference delegates group photo at TRIUMF. Bottom: Tour Guide Brian Kootte demonstrates the size of the cyclotron which sits 21 feet beneath the Meson Hall platform.