After the Second World War, weapons research and work on civilian use of nuclear power were producing more and more radioactive materials. Scientists in the Manhattan Project had been assigned to work on what was then called “Health Physics.” A decade after the end of the war, the first conference on Health Physics was held at Ohio State University. One result of the conference was the formation of a professional Health Physics Society (HPS).
Around 1960 with over a 1000 members, the Society formed “Sections” so each country with members in the HPS could have their own sub organization. In the mid 60s, a committee was formed within the HPS to work on the creation of a new international health physics association. Eventually, the committee was expanded to include 45 representatives from 25 countries. Articles of agreement were drafted, circulated and approved by the HPS. In 1965 the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) was formally launched with fifteen of the country subgroups participating. Over 1000 members were part of the new organization. Currently there are 48 member societies on 5 continents. 37 of these member organizations have their own websites.
“The primary purpose of IRPA is to provide a medium whereby those engaged in radiation protection activities in all countries may communicate more readily with each other and through this process advance radiation protection in many parts of the world. This includes relevant aspects of such branches of knowledge as science, medicine, engineering, technology and law, to provide for the protection of man and his environment from the hazards caused by radiation, and thereby to facilitate the safe use of medical, scientific, and industrial radiological practices for the benefit of mankind.”
The first IRPA Congress was held in 1966 and IRPA congresses have been every 4 years since then. The Congresses cover wide ranges of topics and virtually any paper dealing with aspects of radiation protection is welcome. The Congresses are held all over the world and regional congresses are also sponsored.
The IRPA publishes the proceedings of their conferences on their website. They have a large library of other documents available online on a host of radiation related topics. Of special note is a set of documents about a “radiation protection culture.” These documents deal with how to go about creating a framework of behaviour in an organization that supports radiation protection. They also archive documents for other international organizations.
The IRPA has an education program that assists in training radiation protection professionals to qualify as “Radiation Protection Experts (RPE).” This profession is listed in the International Standard Classification of Occupations which catalogs the areas of expertise associated with this profession. The IRPA is currently developing a certification process for RPEs.
The IRPA website lists 5 governmental radiation organizations, 4 NGOs concerned with radiation, and 4 professional organizations with which the IRPA has links. There is a page of links for radiation protection related websites.
The IRPA website is an excellent source of information for anyone concerned with radiation protection, especially anyone working in a related field.
