Records of the National Radiological Protection Board

HP

1970-2000

The records of the National Radiological Protection Board, established by the Radiological Protection Act 1970, to advance knowledge and provide advice on protection from the hazards of radiation.

Annual and Triennial reports of the board are in HP 1, minutes and papers of the Board are in HP 2, and registered files in the AD and B series are in HP 3. Records of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones are in HP 4; digital records in HP 5.

The published series entitled Documents of the Board and publicity material, which were previously assigned separate series in the Catalogue, have not been selected on the basis that a complete set of these are held as publications either in the information centre or the website of the National Radiological Protection Board.

Copies of the Radiological Protection Bulletins, which were issued by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Health and Safety Branch, are in AB 90

For the Health Protection Agency (HPA) website, see JA 51

Records of the Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee, predecessor of the NRPB's Standing Advisory Committee, are in LAB 66

Public Record(s)

English

5 series

Open unless otherwise stated

from 1999 National Radiological Protection Board

Topics

Communications

The National Radiological Protection Board came into being following the Radiological Protection Act 1970. This act applied throughout the United Kingdom, and thus the Board's responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales. By the terms of the act, the Board is responsible to the Secretary of State for Social Services, who acts on behalf of the health ministers of the UK. Under s1(3) of the act, the Board assumed responsibility for the Radiological Protection Service (which had previously been provided by the Medical Research Council and the UK health departments), and the radiological protection functions previously exercised by the central Health and Safety Branch of the UK Atomic Energy Authority on 1 April 1971. The Board is financed by government, but is required to maximise its income by charging for its services to other organisations, including government departments.

The Board consists of not less than seven and not more than nine members in addition to a chairman, who are appointed by the health ministers following consultation with UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Medical Research Council; the Secretary of State for Social Services is authorised to alter the size of the Board after consultation with it. It was created to establish a national point of authoritative reference for radiological protection, and its functions are: to advance the acquisition of knowledge about protection from radiation hazards; and to provide information and advice to organisations and individuals in the UK on protection from radiation hazards. Radiation hazards are defined as the dangers of ionising radiations emitted by radioactive substances or other sources.

On an international level, the Board is responsible for co-ordinating and representing UK interests in radiological protection. Nationally, the Board is required to co-ordinate the National Arrangements for Incidents involving Radioactivity (NAIR), and it helps determine appropriate standards of training, and organises training, for radiological safety officers and other personnel with responsibilities for radiological safety matters.

In 2002, the National Radiological Protection Board was proposed for amalgamation with the Public Health Laboratory Service, Centre for Applied Microbiology & Research and the National Focus for Chemical Incidents (NFCI) along with parts of the NHS concerned with infection control and public health to form the Health Protection Agency. The Health Protection Agency Act was passed in 2004, which established the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, comprising Radiological Protection Division (ex NRPB) and Chemical Hazards & Poisons Division (NFCI and staff from Department of Health and other organisations) as part of the Health Protection Agency.