McLean, VA, July 2, 2007 -- After the Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico, what were the radiation exposures to nearby residents whom the government did not realize were there" On a scale of 1 to 7, what have international scientists rated nuclear incidents such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl" What strategies are agencies employing to recover "orphaned" radioactive sources"
These and other questions will be addressed at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society (HPS), which will take place July 8-12 in Portland, Oregon at the Doubletree/Convention Center. Approximately 1300 attendees are expected, with over 225 presentations throughout the week.
Health physicists promote the practice of radiation safety. They work in occupational environments such as universities, local hospitals, manufacturing, and nuclear power plants as well as in environmental areas such as radioactive waste sites. They are involved in understanding, evaluating, and controlling radiation's potential risks relative to its benefits in applications such as fighting disease, supplying energy, and increasing security.
MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
Meeting highlights include: a promising dual-technique approach to improving detection of breast cancer and reducing unnecessary biopsies; the first estimates of total radiation dose to people living near the Trinity nuclear test; a newly expanded rating scale that ranks nuclear incidents; and procedures for recovering "orphaned" nuclear sources.
IF YOU CAN'T ATTEND THE MEETING
The HPS meeting webpage (http://hps.org/meetings/meeting7.html)
contains links to the full program. The site will contain a Virtual Pressroom which contains lay-language papers and describes several meeting highlights in more depth. Reporters who would like to attend the meeting should contact HPS Media Liaison Kelly Classic (media@hps.org<
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Contact: Kelly Classic
classic.kelly@mayo.edu
Health Physics Society
2-Jul-2007