HERCA 34 Board Meeting

The HERCA Board of Heads (BoH) meeting was held on the 3-4 December 2024 in Brussels (and remotely)

The Board meeting was chaired by Jean-Luc Lachaume (ASN) with the support of his vice-chair Pilar Lucio (CSN, Spanish Nuclear Safety Council). Following the departure of Patrick MAJERUS (Ministry of Health of Luxembourg), Sébastien BAECHLER (Federal Office of Public Health, Switzerland) was appointed as new vice-chair.

General outcomes:

• A budget convention has been approved by the Board of Heads to provide a formal framework for the management of HERCA’s budget by ASN (and ASNR from 2025). Further work on HERCA Policies will be done, to take into account the budget convention especially.
• In the context of the implementation of the HERCA Strategy focusing on: cooperation, efficiency and stakeholders:

• • One dedicated sub-group has been created to focus on the interactions with ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection): it will be led by Marco Brugmans from ANVS;
  • A workshop on the implementation of the BSS Directive within HERCA member states has been held in May 2024 and a report has been drafted. The report will be shared with the European Commission and the ICRP. Additional workshops could be organised in the future on the need basis. HERCA will continue analysing the BSS directive’s gaps, ambiguities and difficulties.
• The Board agreed to hold a special session on artificial intelligence in radiation protection at its next meeting in Helsinki.
• HERCA’s working groups and network have presented their latest activities and progress reports.
• The Board of Heads meeting was the opportunity to meet representatives from the IAEA, the European Commission and the OCDE’s Nuclear Energy Agency.

The BoH also approved important documents and decisions related to the activities of HERCA working groups including:

• The working group on Veterinary Applications has finalised its position statement on ICRP Publication 153 (Radiological Protection in Veterinary Practice). The working group will discuss further with ICRP and the paper will be approved later on by the Board.
• The working group on Research and Industrial Sources and Practices shared their analysis of the questionnaire on radioactivity in consumer products sent within HERCA member states in 2022.
• A new awareness campaign on the need to justify medical exposure to ionising radiation will be launched by the working group on Medical Applications.
• The working group on Emergency Preparedness and Response is continuing its activities to assist the Ukraine and neighbouring countries in their emergency planning and cross-border interaction in the event of a radiological or nuclear emergency.
• The working groups on Education and Training and Natural Radiation Sources presented their action plan for 2025.

The next meeting (#35) will take place on May 26th and 27th 2025 in Helsinki and will be organised in collaboration with STUK, the Finnish Safety Authority.