The 12th European ALARA Network (EAN) workshop on “ALARA issues arising for safety and
security of radiation sources and security screening devices” took place in Vienna
(Austria) in October 2009. The aim of that workshop was to consider how the implementation
of ALARA, in terms of planned and emergency situations,
involving worker and public doses,
is affected by the introduction of security-related measures. In the case of new equipment
and procedures, there was also the question of whether exposures arising from security
screening devices can be justified and optimised. This workshop consisted of invited oral
presentations, which highlighted the main issues, and half of the programme was devoted to
discussions within working groups on specific topics. During their discussions, the
working groups identified recommendations dealing with the following topics: the
implementation of the Code of Conduct and HASS
– ensuring ALARA; balancing security and
safety – how to achieve an optimum solution; the management of an emergency exposure
situation from an ALARA perspective; the justification and optimisation of the use of
security devices. The objective of this paper is to present the main conclusions and
recommendations produced during the workshop. Individual presentations (papers and
slides) as well as the reports from the working groups are available to download on the
EAN website (http://www.eu-alara.net).