Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities
The Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities (abbreviation: HERCA ) is a voluntary association founded in 2007 of currently 56 European radiation protection authorities from a total of 32 countries (including the member states of the European Union ). For Germany , the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection are involved in HERCA.
tasks and goals
HERCA is intended to intensify the cooperation between radiation protection authorities at European level in order to permanently increase the level of radiation protection in Europe through the exchange of experience and harmonization . According to the self-presentation, this includes in detail:
- Establishment and maintenance of a network of European radiation protection authorities
- Exchange of ideas and experiences on radiological topics
- Discussion and commentary on important (also regulatory) aspects of radiation protection
- Development of a (if possible) harmonized approach to radiation protection
- Experience feedback in the radiation protection practice of the member states and authorities
For this purpose, different working groups work on topics of radiation protection, for example in human and veterinary medical applications, emergency preparedness or non-medical applications of ionizing radiation . Corresponding statements and recommendations are published at irregular intervals.
organization
The HERCA Council meets twice a year for a plenary session. The chairman of HERCA has been Sigurdur Magnusson from the Icelandic radiation protection authority since 2012 (as of December 2016). Previous chairmen were Ole Harbitz (2008 to 2011, Norway ) and André-Claude Lacoste (2007 to 2008, France ).