Instead of forecasting CRPA’s plans for the coming year, our editor in chief, Dave Niven, looks back on the organization’s incredible past year. He also welcomes new board members, celebrates the newly formed social media team, reflects on the organization’s first in-person conference since the pandemic, and extends gratitude to the President’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion before sharing his excitement for all the amazing things to come in 2024.
The objective of this study was to develop a high-yield Pb-203 cyclotron production route using isotopically enriched Tl-205 target material and the Tl-205(p,3n) Pb-203 reaction as an alternative to lower energy production via the Tl-203(p,n) Pb-203 reaction.
The Meritorious Service Award recognizes significant services provided to the Canadian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) or to the radiation protection community in general. This year there were two recipients: Sunil Choubal and Jill Robertson.
There is lots of news in the CRPA(R) Prep article for this issue. We congratulate the newest CRPA(R)s who passed the exam held in Halifax in May, announce that we will be holding CRPA(R) exams separately from the annual conference again this fall, let you in on plans for an exam preparation course, advise you of the recently adopted recognition status expiry date, and confirm that there will be another exam at the annual CRPA conference in Edmonton in June 2024.
Jeff starts his first President’s Message with reflections on CRPA’s success in Halifax—he says the dedication of CRPA members really shone at the first post-Covid conference. Over the summer, he says CRPA has started to work on the logistics of hosting the CRPA(R) exams separate from the conference this fall and hints at some exciting learning and growth opportunities being mapped out by the Professional Development Committee.
Over the years, Dave has written a lot about the benefits of attending conferences, not the least of which are the relationships people build at these events. In this editorial, he remembers one of his first “conference friends,” Adelene Gaw, who passed away in June, was a constant presence within CRPA, as well as the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA). She was also a regular contributor to the CRPA Bulletin. She will be missed.
Grant had to miss the recent CRPA conference in Halifax to attend RadSynch23—a conference held every other year for radiation safety personnel from synchrotron facilities around the world. Grant says the research and experiences shared at the conference (which he summarizes in his editorial), coupled with meeting and renewing contact with synchrotron radiation protection colleagues, makes attendance at the conference invaluable.
Regular readers of the CRPA Bulletin have come to expect Dave Niven, chief editor, to interview incoming CRPA presidents. In this issue, Dave continues his interview series by talking with Jeff Fleming, CRPA’s president-elect. Jeff tells us about his job as an inspector in the Operations Inspections Division at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, about joining CRPA when he was looking for a network of professionals to help him grow and learn, and about the CRPA board of directors’ plans to launch a naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) taskforce.
