HERCA 28 Board Meeting in Prague

The HERCA Board of Heads (BoH) meeting was held on the 1-2 December 2021 simultaneously in Prague and remotely. It was organised thanks to SUJB (State Office for Nuclear Safety of Czech Republic). It was the last one chaired by Mrs. Karla Petrovà (SUJB).

General outcomes:

• HERCA has endorsed a brand new Strategy focusing on: cooperation, efficiency and stakeholders.
• This Board meeting was an occasion to have a discussion with the ICRP Chair, Dr. Werner Rühm about the interaction between the two organisations and HERCA’s involvement in ICRP’s project of updating its recommendations. The Board also adopted a procedure for HERCAs interaction with the ICRP in the revision process.
• Last but not least, Karla PETROVA (SUJB) has stepped down from the HERCA Chair position, as have done the Vice-Chairs Mette ØHLENSCHLAEGER (SIS, Denmark) and Maria Fernanda SÁNCHEZ OJANGUREN (CSN, Spain).
• The new Chair is now Nina CROMNIER (SSM, Sweden) and her two Vice-Chairs are Jean-Luc LACHAUME (ASN, France) and Patrick MAJERUS (Ministry of Health, Luxembourg).

The BoH also approved important documents and decisions related to the activities of HERCA working groups / task forces / networks. Namely:

• Both working groups on Education and Training and Medical Applications have welcomed new team leaders.
• The answers received on the survey questionnaire on the experiences and challenges with regards to Assessment of Occupational Exposure and National Dose Registries are still analysed.
• In the field of emergency preparedness and response, the dedicated WG is currently finalising the HERCA-WENRA approach’s implementation among HERCA member states.
• The 2^nd HERCA Workshop on National Radon Action Plans will be held in June 2022. The new Guidance on NORM has been recently published.
• The working group on Veterinary Applications will soon publish a Veterinary radiotherapy guidance.
• The working group on medical applications is finalising its new mandate.
• In the field of industrial and research sources and practices, multiple documents have recently been published and two surveys, one on Orphan Sources and the other on Financial Provisions are on-going.