An interview with Shelly Mobbs, SRP Honorary Fellow and Chief Expert in Radiological and Environmental Protection at Eden Nuclear and Environment

The Interviewed Magnox by Swarf Steph Storage Bloomer Silo, Radioactive Waste Team Leader at Mott MacDonald. Steph talks to Shelly about her career and the current challenges in radioactive waste management in the UK.

From physics to radiation protection Shelly Mobbs, like many people specialising in radioactive waste, did not exactly plan a career in the field. Her background is in physics which means she has always been comfortable with numbers and formulae.“ Numeracy is essential in my job” states Shelly. In a field which involves calculating dose rates to people and performing calculations in order to determine the disposal requirements for radioactive waste, this certainly seems to be the case.

Shelly ' s early career comprised jobs which used her physics degree, but her route into radiation protection was, by her own admission, strange. After her degree, Shelly performed research on the thermoluminescent dating of sediments. Upon deciding to leave academia, Shelly took a job at a metal manufacturer, developing ultrasonic testing of its products which allowed for non-destructive, live time results. Her radiation protection career really started

when she took a job at the National Radiological Protection Board( NRPB), in the assessments department. This was thanks to a conversation with a housemate at the time.

At NRPB Shelly contributed to the European Commission document, ' RP65 Principles and methods for establishing concentrations and quantities( exemption values) below which reporting is not required in the European directive '. For the first time, quantified assessments were made in order to develop recommendations for the clearance and exemption of radioactive waste on an individual radionuclide basis.“ It ' s probably the more important end of radioactive waste management” says Shelly,“ as it enables radiation protection ' s proportionate approach. Although the activities involved are considerably lower risk than those in High Level Waste( HLW), the fact that materials are released from control means scrutiny is important in order to protect the public”.

Sharing technical knowledge Although numeracy is essential, an obvious contributor to Shelly ' s successful career is her skill in collaboration. During our discussion she pointed out how, during her work assessing the impacts of sea dumping, conversations with technical specialists were important. Shelly explains how figuring out

8 Radiation Protection Today www. srp-rpt. uk