NSERC/UNENE IRC in Health Physics and Environmental Safety

健康物理学和环境安全是电离在工业、研究和教育中的所有应用的基础研究领域，最重要的是在核能的开发中。在2011年3月福岛核事故发生后，政府和公众对核电站安全运行的关注达到了高度，同时人们也普遍意识到电离辐射在工业、自然资源开发和医学上的有益使用。健康物理学是一门研究辐射安全使用以及保护人类和环境免受辐射有害影响的科学。这个工业研究主席计划的总体目标是通过为他们提供独特的和与行业相关的教育经验来培养下一代核科学家和工程师，并通过创新研究改善核能工人的辐射防护科学和保护环境。这项研究的目的是开发新的辐射测量仪器，可以提供有关发电厂、核实验室或环境内的辐射条件的即时信息，并在必要时将这些设备与机器人工具相结合，以便进行远程监测、危害可视化和工作计划，以确保辐射危害尽可能低，并在法规限制内以最小的效率损失。该研究项目还旨在提高我们对核能工作人员、公众和非人类物种因低水平辐射暴露而产生的健康风险的基本认识，并减少这一热门和有争议问题的科学不确定性。

Health physics and environmental safety are cornerstone fields of study for all applications of ionizingradiation in industry, research and education and most importantly in the exploitation of nuclear energy.Government and public concern over the safe operation of nuclear power plants is at a heightened statefollowing the events at Fukushima in March, 2011 and at the same time there is a general awareness of thebeneficial use of ionizing radiation in industry, natural resource development and medicine. Health physics isthe science that addresses the safe use of radiation and protection of humans and the environment from theharmful effects of exposure. The overall objectives of this Industrial Research Chair program are to train thenext generation of nuclear scientists and engineers in health physics by providing them with a unique andindustry relevant educational experience and to improve radiation protection science for nuclear energyworkers and for the protection of the environment through innovative research. The aim of this research is todevelop novel radiation measuring instruments that can provide instantaneous information on the radiationconditions within a power plant, nuclear laboratory or the environment and where necessary to couple thesedevices with robotic tools so that remote monitoring, hazard visualization and work-planning can be carried toensure that radiation hazards are kept as low as possible and well within regulatory limits with the least loss ofefficiency. The research program is also designed to advance our basic understanding of the health risksincurred by nuclear energy workers, the public and non-human species due to low-level radiation exposure andto reduce scientific uncertainties for this topical and controversial issue.