• How to apply traceability to test facilities
• Familiarity with testing processes to maintain practical and operational experience
• Giving advice to instrument users and Radiation Protection Advisers on the appropriate use of instruments
• Statistics and maths ability , i . e . uncertainties , swapping between measurement fields
• Report writing
• Patience and courage to speak up
• Empathy and communication .
What is being done to provide a more consistent and defined route to QP ? While the QP role does not have “ expert ” status in regulation ( it is not a parallel to RPA or RWA ) and , as such , does not require formal recognition , it is clear that the
establishment of agreed and practical guidance on both the role and the competences necessary to undertake that role would be of value not only within the radiation protection community , but also to employers and to training providers .
There is currently a QP Working Group ( QPWG ) set up within SRP to develop guidance on QPs , including standard profiles for the roles and activities likely to be undertaken and the necessary training and competencies .
This information should be sufficiently detailed to facilitate the development of relevant training schemes and procedures for the recognition of QPs . The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE ) and Office for Nuclear Regulation ( ONR ) have observers on the QPWG .
Working Internationally in Radiation Protection
Maureen McQueen is Director of Radiation Protection for AtkinsRealis and has extensive experience as a radiation protection professional in the UK , Canada and USA . In this article she outlines some of the key differences in the regulation and practice of radiation protection in different countries .
During my career , I have worked permanently in three countries . I trained as a Radiation Protection Adviser in the UK . At that time , the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 were in force , based on ICRP26 ( the 1977 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection ) and I was used to implementing these in nuclear facilities . I moved to Canada in 1993 and had to learn the Canadian regulations on radiation protection . At that time , the Atomic Energy Control Act was in force , which was based on earier ICRP recommendations . I had to study the regulations , understand how the licensing system worked in Canada and learn the standard licence conditions which had been used at the time to enforce the newer standards from ICRP26 . While conceptually radiation protection was the same , the main differences were the nature and content of the regulations , and the fact that there were much more prescriptive requirements than the broad framework which was in place in the UK , along with the use of RPAs .
Maureen at the IAEA HQ in Vienna
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