May 24, 2022 We held an IER Special Seminar online.＜Dr. Johnson＞

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On May 24, the lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Prof. Thomas Johnson was attended by five IER graduate school master and two doctor students and several IER members. Prof. Johnson reviewed the available data on the effects of radiation on animals including those acquired in Chornobyl, and discussed the basic concepts applied in the Radiation Protection of the Environment, such as Reference Animals and Plants (RAPs) and Derived Consideration Reference Levels (DCRL) introduced by the ICRP. In the concluding part of the lecture, Prof Johnson emphasized the needs for the further improvement of the biota dosimetry and identification of ecologically-relevant endpoints. In the Q&A session, the lecture participants discussed temporal patterns of formation of internal doses on animals with regard to radionuclide intake and removal rates, the adequacy of the RAPs concept for describing ecosystem impact taking into account the interspecies links using Yellowstone ecosystem changes as an example of the importance of such links, and radiation-induced and anthropogenic elimination of the species from the ecosystem (Red Forest in Chornobyl, decontaminated areas at the Hanford site in the USA, etc.). Click here to read the June 29 seminar article.