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Leopoldo Arranz
IRPA Vice-President for Congress Affairs
Chairperson of International Congress Organising Committee
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The Spanish Society of Radiological Protection
(SEPR) organised the 11th International Congress of the
International Radiation Protection Association in Madrid,
under the presidence of the Honorary Committee of His Majesty
the King Juan Carlos I, the week of May 23rd, 2004. More
than 1,330 participants from 78 countries contributed to
the unqualified success of IRPA11, representing the widest
participation of any IRPA Congress.
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| IRPA11 Opening
Ceremony |
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The organisers of the first Congress
of the third millennium, IRPA 11, have had the ambition
-expressed in the theme of the congress "Widening
the Radiation Protection World"- of demystifying
our principles to make them more understandable even
for non experts, as radiation protection culture should
be the responsibility of each of us.
A key feature of each IRPA International Congress
since 1973 has been the presentation of the Sievert
Award in memory of the radiation protection pioneer,
Rolf M. Sievert. The recipient must have made outstanding
contributions in the field of radiation protection.
This year the award went to Abel Gonzalez, Division
Head for Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, IAEA.
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Before receiving the award, Abel presented
the Sievert award lecture. As Geoff Webb noted in his closing
remarks at the end of the Congress, this was a highlight
of the meeting, "lively, comprehensive and challenging".
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The organisers of the first Congress
of the third millennium, IRPA 11, have had the ambition
-expressed in the theme of the congress "Widening
the Radiation Protection World"- of demystifying
our principles to make them more understandable even
for non experts, as radiation protection culture should
be the responsibility of each of us.
A key feature of each IRPA International Congress
since 1973 has been the presentation of the Sievert
Award in memory of the radiation protection pioneer,
Rolf M. Sievert. The recipient must have made outstanding
contributions in the field of radiation protection.
This year the award went to Abel Gonzalez, Division
Head for Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety,
IAEA. Before receiving the award, Abel presented
the Sievert award lecture.
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| Abel Gonzalez
presenting the Sievert Lecture |
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As Geoff Webb noted in his closing remarks
at the end of the Congress, this was a highlight of the
meeting, "lively, comprehensive and challenging".
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Beginning with IRPA10, the Gold Medal for
Radiation Protection of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
is also presented during the opening session of the International
Congress. The Gold Medal was established in 1962 and is
given to persons who have made highly valuable contributions
to international radiation protection work during the preceding
10 year period. The award for IRPA11 was given to Sir Richard
Doll for his long standing contributions in research on
ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.
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Under the structure of nine major Scientific
Thematic Areas, five Plenary Sessions were organised, being
specially important the presentation of the ICRP Proposals
for the 21st Century, after a profound and participatory
process. Sixteen Refresher Courses were programmed with
the attendance of 715 congress participants, and 15 Keynote
Lectures presented an overview on those topics of particular
interest to the Radiation Protection Community. Is noticeable
that there were about 1200 contributions to the Scientific
Sessions, where 60 contributions were selected for oral
presentations and the rest were exhibited in the Poster
Viewing Sessions.
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The IRPA business were conducted during
a forum for representatives of the IRPA Associate Societies
on Tuesday afternoon, and the General Assembly on Wednesday
afternoon. During the General Assembly, Geoff Webb presented
a comprehensive President's Report of the IRPA activities,
issues and accomplishments for the period 2000 to 2004.
The General Assembly also approved the IRPA Code of Ethics
that has been developed since IRPA10 in Hiroshima. The approval
endorses the use of the Code of Ethics by the Associate
Societies, either by adopting it directly or using it as
a basis for a modified individual Associate Society Code.
The General Assembly was the occasion for selection of the
venue for IRPA12. The winning bid from a strong set of three
proposals, including Glasgow, Scotland and Helsinki, Finland
was Buenos Aires, Argentina (October, 2008).
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In parallel to the scientific programme,
the largest Technical Exhibition of IRPA Congresses were
organised, with 50 exhibitors in 68 stands. This provided
the communication among congress attendants and the most
important technical and industrial companies and the opportunity
to present last products, services and technological advances
in this field.
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The International
Congress Organising Committee (ICOC)
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To facilitate the participation
of young specialists and scientists, specially from
development countries, the Organising Committee
created an special committee, the International
Congress Support Committee (ICSC) to manage the
applicants and the whole financial support available.
This financial support was provided by IAEA, WHO,
PAHO, Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs,
and from Nordic, French, German-Swiss, Italian,
Dutch, Japan, USA and Spanish Radiation Protection
Societies. More than 70 scientists from 29 countries
(36% from Latin America, 33% from Europe and 31%
from the rest of the world) received this support.ll.
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The Congress also featured a rich social programme,
beginning on Sunday night with a Welcome Cocktail. This was
followed on Tuesday with a magnificent Spanish ballet and
music concert, and concluded with a very memorable Congress
dinner.
The final acts of the Congress were the transfer of the
IRPA flag to Abel Gonzalez, Vice President for Congress
Affairs for IRPA12, and the closure of the Congress as Phil
Metcalf rang the Polvani bell.
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Geoff Webb
presents the Outstanding Service Award
to Annie Sugier
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I would like to express my deepest
appreciation for the untiring efforts of the 33 members
of the International Congress Programme Committee
(ICPC), the 15 members of the International Congress
Organising Committee (ICOC), the 10 members of the
International Congress Support Committee (ICSC), the
IRPA Executive Council and the sponsoring organisations
- The Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, the
Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), the Regional
Government of Madrid, the Madrid Council, the Spanish
National Radioactive Waste Management Company (ENRESA),
the National Research Centre for Energy, Technology
and Environment (CIEMAT), The Spanish Electric Industry
Association (UNESA), The Advanced Industries Company
(ENUSA) - and the collaborating international organisations
IAEA, WHO and PAHO. All of them have made IRPA 11
a success!
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Finally, I wish to thank to Annie
Sugier and to Eduardo Gallego, who have supported
all the Scientific Programme, to Geoff Webb and to
Jacques Lochard, whose suggestions have let to correct
our mistakes, and all members of the Spanish Radiation
Protection Society (SEPR) headed by its president,
Pedro Carboneras, who have worked, collaborated and
suffered in this project during more than 4 years.
I hope you will find in these pages a good reference
for your future work in the coming years. Bookmark
it now!
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| Eduardo Gallego
acknowledges appreciation of IRPA11 participants |
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