Viktor Ivanov, deputy director of Medical Radiological Research Center of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences

– When speaking about radiation safety, we must not neglect social-psychological factors

“Any person must have access to information about the safety of nuclear facilities.”

“Presently, Russia is reorganizing its nuclear industry, while the International Atomic Energy Agency is seriously revising its standards in the field of protection of population from radiation effects. This is very important as here one should consider not only exposure doses, but also other factors: age, physical and psychological health, etc. IAEA gives priority to individual risk assessment. In order to be able to assess individual risks, we should have full access to the information about the radiation background near nuclear facilities and to other important data. Not only employees of the nuclear sector but also journalists and ordinary people should have access to such information in case of necessity.”

“When speaking about radiation safety, we must not neglect social-psychological factors. For example, there is no radiation but a person has no information. So, he begins to imagine something and gets sick. Provocations about nuclear accidents are based exactly on psychology. Just remember the allegations about a nuclear accident at Volgodonsk NPP. If we start timely informing people of the real situation, the opponents of nuclear energy will no longer be able to allege that nuclear energy is unsafe. We have nothing to conceal from our people. Our nuclear power facilities are very safe. ”