History
HERCA was created in 2007 as an initiative of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) to initiate an exchange of knowledge and experiences in order to facilitate practical and harmonized solutions to important regulatory issues in radiation protection. The members of HERCA are the European Radiation Protection Authorities (RPA) represented by the Heads of the authorities, and at present HERCA has over 50 participating partners representing more than 30 European countries.
In 2008 the first Working Group on the development of an electronic passbook was established, and they submitted their outcome in 2016. Subsequently, the WG was transferred to a Network and reactivated in 2019 as the Network on Occupational Dose Collection, Registration and Reporting (ODCRR). The ODCRR Network brings together around 30 members with a key responsibility in the management of their national dose register.
Objectives
The objective of the ODCRR Network is twofold:
To share experiences and best practices in the field of collection, registration and reporting of occupational doses.
To share statistical dose information from HERCA Network members and to perform analysis and interpretation of this information.
Management
The management structure of HERCA consists of:
A Board. (Board of HERCA (BoH), that meets in a plenary session twice a year. The Board is presided by a Chair, or a Vice-Chair in the HERCA Chairs absence.
The members of the Board are expected to be Heads of their organisations or, if that is not possible, senior managers, authorised to take decisions on behalf of the Radiation Protection Authority, and to attend the Board meetings regularly.
Working groups (WG), Networks (NT) and Task Forces (TF) established by the Board to address issues of common interest.
A Technical Secretariat supporting the Board and the HERCA Chair, ensuring overall coordination and facilitation of all activities of HERCA.
Organisation of thematic Workshops (WS)
The HERCA ODCRR network has a Chair and Secretariat responsible for the execution of the activities mandated by the BoH. In addition to the 30 members the Network also has associated Observers representing e.g. EC and IAEA.
Main Activities
Key activities of interest to the HERCA network are:
Gaining understanding on the current practise of dosimetry and dose collection in all fields of occupational dose exposure, and to collect information on the challenges and open-ends with regards to occupational exposure and dose registration.
Analyses of national statistical dose information for the interpretation of for example trends, national and European developments, and evaluation of the impact of national regulatory frameworks. These include trends in number of exposed workers, and exposure levels in different sectors across EU MS.
Exploring possibilities to use tools for statistical dose information and other kind of information exchange related to occupational exposure
Web-link:
HERCA - Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities