Hricak Hedvig, Dauer Lawrence T
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
Health Phys. 2017 Feb;112(2):126-130. doi: 10.1097/HP.0000000000000602.
The use of radiation has a substantial beneficial impact, particularly in the areas of medicine, energy production, basic science research, and industrial applications. Radiation protection knowledge and experience are required for acquiring and implementing scientific knowledge to protect workers, members of the public, and the environment from potential harmful effects of ionizing radiation while facilitating the beneficial use and development of radiation-based technologies. However, demographic changes are negatively impacting U.S. radiation protection and response capabilities. The number of radiation professionals continues to decrease even as the demand for such professionals is growing. These concerns are most pronounced in the medical, energy, research, and security arenas. Though the United States has been the world leader in radiation protection and radiation sciences for many years, the country has no strategic plan to ensure the maintenance of expertise in radiobiology, radiation physics, and radiation protection. Solving this problem will require a significant increase in federal and state funding as well as formal partnerships and initiatives among academia, professional societies, government, and the private sector.
辐射的使用具有重大的有益影响，特别是在医学、能源生产、基础科学研究和工业应用领域。获取和应用科学知识以保护工人、公众和环境免受电离辐射的潜在有害影响，同时促进基于辐射的技术的有益利用和发展，需要辐射防护知识和经验。然而，人口结构变化正在对美国的辐射防护和应对能力产生负面影响。即使对此类专业人员的需求不断增长，辐射专业人员的数量仍在持续减少。这些问题在医疗、能源、研究和安全领域最为突出。尽管美国多年来一直是辐射防护和辐射科学领域的世界领先者，但该国没有确保维持放射生物学、辐射物理学和辐射防护专业知识的战略计划。解决这一问题将需要大幅增加联邦和州的资金投入，以及学术界、专业协会、政府和私营部门之间的正式合作与倡议。
