The Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) is a British government environmental research site, run by
Public Health England
Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...
(PHE) in
Chilton, Oxfordshire
Chilton is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about southwest of Didcot. The parish was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local government boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census ...
that monitors levels of toxic chemicals and background radiation in the British environment; it is largely a continuation of the former
National Radiological Protection Board The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) was a public authority in the UK created by the Radiological Protection Act 1970. Its statutory functions were to conduct research on radiological protection and provide advice and information on th ...
(NRPB).
History
The Radiation Protection Division of the
Health Protection Agency
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It was an organisation that was set up by the UK government in 2003 to protect the public from threats to their health from infectious diseases and envi ...
was formed on 1 April 2005, due to the
Health Protection Agency Act 2004, directly superseding the NRPB. This became the CRCE due to the
Health and Social Care Act 2012
The Health and Social Care Act 2012c 7 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date.''BMJ'', 2011; 342:d408Dr Lansley's Mon ...
, when Public Health England was formed.
Structure
It is part of PHE's Radiation Protection Adviser Services. PHE was the UK's first Radiation Protection Adviser Body, under the
Ionising Radiations Regulations (IRR) 17 (which came from the
International Commission on Radiological Protection
The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an independent, international, non-governmental organization, with the mission to protect people, animals, and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. Its r ...
).
Function
It monitors
background radiation
Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources.
Background radiation originates from a variety of sources ...
in the UK. Workers exposed to radiation include workers in
dental radiography
Dental radiographs, commonly known as X-rays, are radiographs used to diagnose hidden dental structures, malignant or benign masses, bone loss, and cavities.
A radiographic image is formed by a controlled burst of X-ray radiation which penetrate ...
and
nuclear power stations
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces elec ...
; exposure to radiation for workers in the UK must be
ALARP
ALARP ("as low as reasonably practicable"), or ALARA ("as low as reasonably achievable"), is a principle in the regulation and management of safety-critical and safety-involved systems. The principle is that the residual risk shall be reduced as f ...
. It offers 3-day training courses around twice a month, at a national level, for workers exposed to radiation.
It produces reports on environmental background radiation in England.
CRCE Reports
/ref> It works with the ICRP, the (UNSCEAR), and the International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
(IAEA). Inside the UK, it works with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; gd, Buidheann Dìon Àrainneachd na h-Alba) is Scotland's Environmental regulation, environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management au ...
(SEPA) and the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
(EA).
See also
* British Institute of Radiology
The British Institute of Radiology (BIR) is a radiology society and charity based in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest institute of its kind in the world, forming on 2 April 1897.
History
The society can be traced back to two separate i ...
* Health effects of radon
Radon, a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, has been studied by a number of scientific and medical bodies for its effects on health. A naturally-occurring gas formed as a decay product of radium, radon is one of the densest sub ...
* International Radon Project
* NHS Health Research Authority
The Health Research Authority (HRA) is an arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in England. The HRA exists to provide a unified national system for the governance of health research. The current chair of the HRA is ...
References
External links
Radiation Protection Adviser Services
UK Radon
{{authority control
Education in Oxfordshire
Environmental chemistry
Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom
Environmental research institutes
Environmental toxicology
Nuclear medicine organizations
Nuclear research institutes in the United Kingdom
Public Health England
Radiation protection organizations
Radiology organizations
Radon
Research institutes in Oxfordshire
Toxicology in the United Kingdom
Vale of White Horse