Development and validation of tools for risk evaluation in low dose radiation protection

目前，核电提供了加拿大约14%的电力。为了保证核电站工作人员的辐射防护，拥有准确的辐射测量设备和剂量计算工具是非常重要的。目前的辐射测量技术存在技术局限性，特别是在低剂量的β和中子辐射领域，因此，本研究旨在开发先进的辐射探测器和仪器来解决这些问题。开发的辐射探测器和信号处理系统将进行测试，并最终用于核电站。核电行业面临的另一个挑战是对环境的辐射防护。迄今为止，辐射防护主要集中在保护人类，但最近世界各地的行动表明，在不久的将来，立法者将不得不制定专门针对保护环境的措施。考虑到生态系统的复杂性，以及在大多数环境中除了辐射之外存在的多种压力源，如何做到这一点是一个问题。因此，这项研究将设法将用新研制的探测器测得的低辐射剂量与对人口的影响联系起来，同时考虑到这种影响可能并不总是不利的。此外，研究小组还将尝试了解低辐射剂量的机制。这是开发生物指示器和生物传感器的关键，它们可以提醒我们注意微妙的影响，这些影响可能无法立即观察到，但可能具有潜伏的影响，这些影响后来会变得重要。拟建的研究小组在辐射测量和生物学方面处于最前沿，并拥有广泛的国际合作者网络。

Nuclear power currently provides approximately 14% of Canada's electricity. In order to guarantee radiation protection for the workers at nuclear power stations, it is of great importance to have accurate radiation measurement devices and dose computational tools. There are technical limitations in the current radiation measurement technology, particularly for low dose beta and neutron radiation fields, and therefore, this research aims to develop advanced radiation detectors and instrumentation to address them. The developed radiation detectors and signal processing systems will be tested and eventually used at nuclear power plants. Another challenge we face in the nuclear power industry is radiation protection for the environment. To date, radiation protection has mainly focused on protecting humans, but recent moves worldwide suggest that in the near future legislators will have to put in place measures specifically aimed at protecting the environment. How to do this is the issue, given the complexity of ecosystems and the existence of multiple stressors other than radiation in most environments. Hence, this research will seek to correlate low radiation doses measured with the newly developed detectors, with impacts on populations, bearing in mind that such impacts may not always be adverse. Moreover, the research team will also attempt to understand low radiation dose mechanisms. This is the key to developing bio-indicators and bio-sensors which can alert us to subtle impacts which may not be immediately observable but can have insidious effects which later become important. The proposed research team is at the forefront in radiation measurement and biology, and has a wide network of international collaborators.