March 20 & 21, 2016
Hotel Santa Fe
1501 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM
The Rio Grande Chapter of the Health Physics Society is excited about our upcoming 2016 Spring Technical Meeting scheduled for March 21, 2016 and invites members of the Chapter, other interested professionals, and students of Health Physics and/or Nuclear Engineering to participate.
As an extra incentive, on March 20, 2016, there will be two training sessions. The first session will be on Internal Dosimetry with Dr. Charles “Gus” Potter as the instructor. The second session will be on Chernobyl with Dr. Ron Chesser as instructor. The application is pending for AAHP continuing education credits for our training sessions as well as the technical meeting both of which can be applied to NRRPT continuing education requirements.
Our 2015 meeting received the following AAHP CEU’s:
| Session | CEU’s |
| Continuing Education: | 8 |
| Dinner & Guest Speaker: | 2 |
| Technical Session: | 7 |
The Hotel Santa Fe has provided us with a group rate for lodging for $99 per night. Please let them know that you are affiliated with the RGC HPS when you call 877-259-3409 to make your reservation. To achieve this rate you must book your room before February 19, 2016 so make your reservation early.
Abstract due date: 14 March 2016
Abstracts will be printed directly from your electronic submission to RGC HPS President-Elect Amber Allardice at amber.allardice.1@us.af.mil. Minor editing (punctuation and grammar) may be performed on your abstract; you will not see a revised version before publication. It is our intent to publish the agenda prior to the sessions.
NOTES:
All Technical Session presentations are slated for an oral format with PowerPoint slides. Standard oral presentations are scheduled for 25 minutes, with an additional 5 minutes for questions. If you need additional time for your presentation, please notify RGC HPS President-Elect Amber Allardice at amber.allardice.1@us.af.mil upon submittal.
Abstract Acceptance: Notification of acceptance will be sent via email to the presenting author by
March 16, 2016.
Presentation Publication: In previous years, the RGC HPS has posted the technical presentations on its website. Please notify RGC HPS Amber Allardice at amber.allardice.1@us.af.mil on submittal of any restrictions on dissemination.
Schedule:
| Session | Date | Time | Cost |
| Continuing Education*: -Internal Dosimetry -Chernobyl |
March 20, 2016 | 8 am 12 pm 1 pm 5 pm |
$85 |
| Dinner & Social Hour (guests welcome) | March 20, 2016 | 6 pm 9 pm | $33 |
| Technical Session*: Technical Presentations Affiliate Presentations Chapter Business Meeting Executive Council Meeting |
March 21, 2016 | 8 am 5 pm | $85 |
“Internal Dosimetry” Charles “Gus” Potter
This class covers Internal Dosimetry review, standards, and ongoing considerations. In the 21st century environment, the focus on engineering controls for radiological work has greatly reduced, if not eliminated, the need for a true “routine” internal dosimetry program. The internal dosimetrist is now typically focused on reviewing exposure measurements, documenting zeros, and reducing the program scope and associated cost. An effective program, therefore has to be agile, integrate with radiation protection operations, and determine doses on an infrequent basis. Therefore, the presence of individuals with considerable experience in dose calculation is greatly reduced. The need for operational health physicists to be able to calculate internal doses is still important for those times when individuals do get exposed internally. Accordingly, this presentation will provide a refresher in simple techniques for internal dose calculation. The discussion will center around the model systems currently incorporated into US regulation and how they are employed in determining radionuclide intake and effective dose. In addition, information on pending updates of ICRP recommendations for internal dosimetry will be provided as well as discussion of ongoing controversies over calculational methods and evaluation of bioassay data.
“Chernobyl: Accident, Release, Impacts and Aftermath” Dr. Ronald K. Chesser
Dr. Chesser conducted research at Chernobyl from 1992 until 2005 and was responsible for building Ukraine’s International Radioecology Laboratory. Over this period he became familiar with the accident sequence, the evacuation of 135,000 residents, and the socio-economic losses suffered by the Ukrainian people. He collected thousands of sample points which provided accurate reconstructions of the Western and Northern Plumes of radiation released during the first two days of the accident. Collaborations with international scientists provided insights into the subtle biological effects in the aftermath of the release and the rapid recovery of habitats in later years. Dr. Chesser will show photographs taken throughout the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone that show wildlife, abandoned villages, and remaining signatures of high radiation in areas directly in the path of the early flows of nuclear fuel particles. He will document the rise and fall of the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, a city founded in 1970 to support the planned construction of 12 nuclear power reactors along the Pripyat River. Plume reconstructions show that the city’s residents narrowly escaped two major radioactive plumes thereby limiting radiation doses prior to their dramatic evacuation. Poignant before/after pictures show the lifestyles of residents before the accident compared with the invasive destruction as nature reclaims the urban sites. The presentation will include a comparison of Chernobyl’s radioactive release sequences with those of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Facility. It will show that the releases were dramatically different in their magnitude and in the spectra of radionuclides released. Each release type had contrasting impacts on population areas and natural habitats. Finally, Dr. Chesser’s discussion will address the difficulties in conducting robust research programs in natural habitats to document the effects of chronic radioactive exposures. Some of the problems encountered include distinguishing history from effect, understanding complex population dynamics, inability to reconstruct accurate dose rates and dose accumulation in prolonged life histories, and inadequate experimental designs. Questions and dialogues are encouraged during and after the presentations.
Lunch and refreshments are included in the registration costs for each day.
*AAHP continuing education credit (can be applied to NRRPT) will be granted (application pending).
Online Registration below:
2016 RGC HPS Membership: $15
Continuing Education Session: $85
Dinner & Social Hour: $33
Technical Session: $85
To pay by check (payable to RGC HPS), please print out the registration form and mail it to:
RGC HPS
P.O. Box 51686
Albuquerque, NM 87181-1686
Registration deadline is March 16, 2016.
Thank you,
RGC HPS
