Health Physics News

The November 2026 issue of the Health Physics journal is now available online for subscribers. One article per issue of Health Physics is made freely available to nonsubscribers for a limited time (usually 6 weeks). Read the free November article: “Evaluation of Pediatric Radiation Doses during Chest, Abdomen, and Babygram X-ray Examination Using GATE Code” by Noureddine Elamri, Maroine Tahiri, Redouane El Baydaoui, Mounir Mkimel, and Mustapha Bougteb.

 

 

 

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The 7th International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity will bring together the international radioecology and environmental radioactivity community in Melbourne, Australia, 21–26 February 2027. Registration is now open, with Early Bird pricing available until 30 November 2026. Abstract submissions are closed.

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HPS 72nd Annual Meeting
11–15 July 2027, Tacoma, Washington

HPS 73rd Annual Meeting
11–15 June 2028, Knoxville, Tennessee

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Kendall Berry, HPS Secretary

The Health Physics Society’s (HPS) annual election opened on 15 September 2026 and closes at 5:00 pm Eastern Time on 15 October 2026. We encourage all eligible members to participate.

Please sign into hps.org and visit your profile to access your election materials or use the link in the email you received on 15 September. If you did not receive a link to your ballot, or otherwise need assistance voting, please contact members@hps.org.

The future of HPS is shaped by its members. Thank you for taking part in this important election.

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Bridget Smith, President, San Diego HPS Chapter

Photos courtesy of Ken Smith

The San Diego Health Physics Society held a meeting on 10 September 2026 at Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser) San Marcos Medical Center. Two Kaiser medical physics residents gave presentations. Alvin Yassuiae’s presentation, “Quantifying Copper Thickness Equivalence to Regulatory and Anatomical Phantoms in Fluoroscopy,” focused on finding an economical and easy-to-use alternative to the standard regulatory phantom. Zahra Mojabi presented, “Estimating Workloads of Mobile C-arms for Facility Radiation Shielding Design.” Participants also discussed the upcoming changes to federal radioactive material regulations and the October 2026 Ludlum Measurements Open House in Sweetwater, Texas.  In December the chapter will be holding a Holiday Happy Hour. Watch for an announcement on our San Diego HPS Chapter page.  Meeting presentations are posted on the San Diego HPS Chapter YouTube channel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mike Lewandowski, FHPS, CHP, HPS President

Pictures courtesy of Brett Burk, HPS Executive Director

I was invited by the China Society of Radiation Protection (CSRP) to attend their annual meeting from 8-12 September 2026. This year, the CSRP hosted the 7th Asian and Oceanic Congress on Radiation Protection (AOCRP-7) in Beijing. The CSRP are wonderful hosts and they really made me feel at home. I want to thank Qun Liu, Hua Li, and Cheng Wei for their hospitality.

The CSRP asked me to present on the radiation protection framework changes proposed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and how HPS and US radiation protection professionals are reacting to those changes. Since it is too early to describe the final changes or how we’re reacting to them, I was constrained to only discuss what changes were part of the rulemaking proposal and then offer my opinions on how those changes might be implemented. All the plenary speakers were recorded and I expect the recordings will be made available on the meeting website by the time you read this note. A copy of my presentation, references, and script are available on the HPS website. I made these documents accessible to the meeting attendees since all presentations were in English (plenary talks were translated into Chinese and perhaps other languages) and having a copy to refer to might help enhance understanding. The prepublication insights from the 15 July HPS webinar on the proposed rulemaking hosted by Drs. Charles Wilson and Emily Caffrey were particularly helpful for my presentation and I want to very sincerely thank them for their efforts.

My presentation was well received, and the topic was clearly of great interest to many of the attendees. I had questions from individuals representing radiation protection societies and regulatory authorities from all over the region. I found the quality of the oral and poster presentations to be very high. Although many of the presenters struggled with English, they were sufficiently prepared to deliver their presentations so that they were understandable. The AV set up for the plenary presentation was outstanding and it was a treat to be able to present in that environment. The volunteers helping to run the meeting were incredibly friendly and helpful. I was also invited to chair one of the technical sessions. The sessions were well run and the speakers were prepared to deliver their presentations in the allotted time. There were some areas in which CSRP’s larger budget, relative to HPS made the meeting feel nicer than a typical HPS meeting. That said here were parts of the meeting that we clearly do better and we can offer some suggestions for improvement to the CSRP. The HPS Program Committee, Continuing Education Programs Committee and Headquarters Meeting staff are doing an outstanding job with our Annual Meetings and I hope you will join me in thanking them for their efforts.

The CSRP and HPS have a long-standing relationship and I look forward to the future when members of the CSRP can again travel to the US to attend the HPS Annual Meeting. HPS Executive Director, Brett Burk, and Smith Drupa-Jones from BAI accompanied me on the visit. It should come as no surprise that Brett used the time at the meeting to enhance our reputation and relationships with IRPA leadership and Rui Qui, the Editor in Chief of the Chinese radiation safety journal, Radiation Protection. The relationships we build between individual radiation protection professionals and between our professional societies across the globe are important to advancing our profession since we’re all working on the same problems and can learn from each other. I encourage all HPS members to take advantage of any situation where you can interact with radiation protection professionals from outside the US so that we can continue to build those global relationships.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at President@HPS.org

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Dave Nivens, IRPA Communications Officer

Each quarter we publish highlights from our Associate Societies, updates on IRPA Task Groups, upcoming international events, and more. The best way to stay up to date is to sign up to receive the Bulletin directly to your inbox each quarter. You can subscribe by following this link to be added to the mailing list.

Want to catch up on something you missed? All issues of the IRPA Bulletin are posted here.

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Kendall Berry, HPS Secretary

The draft minutes from the 2026 HPS Member Meeting are now available on the HPS Members Only website, on the  HPS Annual Member Meeting Minutes web page. Members are encouraged to review the minutes and submit any suggested additions or corrections to the HPS Secretary. The minutes will be formally reviewed and approved during the 2027 HPS Annual Meeting in Tacoma, Washington.

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Amy Wride-Graney, Standards Coordinator

BSR HPS N13.22-20xx “Bioassay Program for Uranium” was included in the ANSI Standards Action on 18 September 2026. The proposed standard is open for comment until 2 November 2026. This standard provides a technical basis for uranium bioassay administration, analysis, and follow-up. Both chemical and radiological toxicity are considered in the determination of bioassay types and monitoring frequencies.

To request a copy of the Standard contact awride-graney@burkinc.com.

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Kendall Berry, HPS Secretary

The Health Physics Society’s (HPS) annual election will open on 15 September 2026, and we encourage all eligible members to participate.

This year’s ballot includes the election of:

• One Treasurer-Elect
• Two Directors

Those elected will serve on the HPS Board of Directors from the 2027 Annual Meeting through the 2030 Annual Meeting.

Voting is one of the most important privileges of HPS membership and provides every full member with an opportunity to help shape the future direction of HPS. The leaders elected this year will play a key role in guiding HPS programs, finances, strategic initiatives, and member services in the years ahead.

Electronic ballots will be distributed on 15 September 2026 and will remain open for 30 days, closing at 5:00 PM Eastern on 15 October 2026.

Before casting your vote, please take a few moments to review the candidate biographies and statements. The strength of our Society depends on engaged members and thoughtful leadership, and your participation helps ensure that HPS continues to represent the diverse interests and expertise of our profession.

Please don’t wait until the last minute. Cast your ballot early and make your voice heard.

If you do not receive a ballot on 15 September, please contact members@hps.org for assistance.

The future of HPS is shaped by its members. Thank you for taking part in this important election.

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Kendall Berry, HPS Secretary

HPS chapter leaders are reminded that hpschapters.org will sunset on 31 December 2026. After that date, existing chapter websites hosted on the platform will no longer be publicly accessible or editable. Chapters should begin planning now by deciding whether they need a website moving forward, preserving any needed materials, and reviewing options for maintaining an online presence. HPS will offer support for chapters using Wix.com, including a website shell creation webinar on 14 November 2026, and chapters are encouraged to complete their transition before the end-of-year deadline. For assistance, contact ChapterWebsiteSupport@hps.org.

Please review additional information about the transition here.

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Thomas Johnson PhD, MS, MBA, Colorado State University

Colorado State University hosted six Fukushima University students and two professors in a research exchange program the last week of August/first week of September. The ten-day program included health physics and radiochemistry classes and laboratories. The students got the opportunity to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, and measured radiation levels from the rocks of up to 0.3 µSv/h. This is part of an exchange program between the two universities that started in 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The 7th International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity will bring together the international radioecology and environmental radioactivity community in Melbourne, Australia, 21–26 February 2027. Registration is now open, with Early Bird pricing available until 30 November 2026. Abstract submissions are closed.

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Jonathan Nagata, US Environmental Protection Agency 

The Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) Revision 2 has been published. Updates to MARSSIM are intended to increase clarity and improve flexibility in providing a consistent approach for planning, performing, and assessing building surface and surface soil radiological surveys to meet established dose or risk-based release criteria, while concurrently encouraging an effective use of personnel time, equipment, and other resources. In addition, the MARSSIM workgroup developed a video to describe updates to the document and how four federal agencies can collaborate to bring consistency to the methods and processes used to demonstrate that sites are ready for release. To download the document or watch the video, please visit https://www.epa.gov/marssim.

 

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A photo essay of events at the 71st Health Physics Society (HPS) Annual Meeting, which was held 6‒9 July 2026 in National Harbor, Maryland, is now available on the HPS website.

Many other photos covering the history of HPS can also be viewed on the website:

• Annual Meeting Photos
• Midyear Meeting Photos
• Elda Anderson Award Breakfast Photos
• The HPS Chicken Tradition
• A Pictorial History of the Health Physics Society

 

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Christopher Royce, President, HPS Instrumentation Section

The Instrumentation Section of the Health Physics Society (HPS) is looking for people to talk about radiation detection technology and best practices We appreciate the feedback we received from our recent survey and we will begin hosting webinars covering radiation detection and instrumentation topics. We are asking for interested persons to deliver 30‒60 minute talks about a topic that can aid the health physics community. We will host the meeting platform for you and gather the audience.

If you have a project where you’ve utilized a new instrument or technology, or an old one in a novel way, come talk about it. If you have some input to share regarding the ANSI N42 instrumentation st

andards, we want to hear about it. If you revamped your calibration process to include more remote monitoring and shielding for dose reduction, let us know. If you are using drones or autonomous vehicles for surveys, show us how.

Whether you have a novel way to reduce radon interference in field measurements, have struggled with calibrating a high-purity germanium detector only to find electronic noise was interfering,

 have reprogrammed your continuous air monitor to focus on ²³²Th regions of interest despite the software’s preset focus on ²⁴¹Am, then please share your trials in an Instrumentation Section webinar.  This is a great way to refine your presentations, present best practices to the HPS community, and earn continuing-education credits.

Contact us at Instrumentation@HPS.org, or Christopher.Royce@advetage.com if you have a presentation you would like to deliver during a future Instrumentation Section webinar.

Please include with your communication a short write-up, describing your talk, including a title, and a short biography of yourself. Also let us know when you are available to give a talk, including both times and dates. Please allow at least 4 weeks for scheduling.

Thank you and we hope to hear from you soon!

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Brant Ulsh, CHP, PhD, Health Physics Editor in Chief, Barbara Hamrick, CHP, JD, Health Physics Society WebOps Editor in Chief

The Health Physics journal editorial staff underwent a major transition at the 2026 Health Physics Society (HPS) Annual Meeting in National Harbor. We bid a fond farewell to our cherished friend and colleague, Mary Gene Ryan, as she moved on from her post as the journal’s managing editor into a well-earned retirement. This is a bittersweet milestone for all of us on the journal staff.

Mary Gene first joined the journal’s staff as managing editor in 2010 when she began serving alongside her husband, Mike Ryan, as he guided the journal as editor in chief. Mary Gene had to step away from her duties with the journal to help care for Mike in 2018, but she returned in the nick of time as the journal was seeking a managing editor in 2019. We were ecstatic to get Mary Gene back in our hour of need.

Mary Gene recounted that when Mike first joined the journal, submissions came in by mail, and she spent a lot of time at the post office. She has seen the journal move first to an electronic submission process and now to an online format. Through all of it, Mary Gene has been there to provide better grammar and English usage and a steadying hand and to smooth out the bumps that come with major transitions. We will greatly miss her calm, friendly disposition and her steadying influence.

 

Also, the HPS WebOps staff will be saying good-bye to Mary Walchuk, who has served the HPS for over 30 years. Mary first worked for the HPS in 1985 as a temporary assistant to the Health Physics journal, providing help after a fire at the publisher required journal staff to collect new hard copies of the papers that had been burned (this was long before everything became entirely electronic). She then returned in 1993 to take on a permanent position with Health Physics News as a copy editor and feature-story writer.

She filled many roles over the years, including participating in the creation and growth of the HPS website, transitioning to the new website, and coordinating the Web Operations activities for the HPS Publications Booth at annual meetings. As news editor, she gathered and posted news items on the HPS website, put together the Health Physics News twice-monthly e-newsletter, posted information on the website, and edited website pages as they were created or updated.

Mary took on a part-time status in September of last year and is now fully retired as of 14 August. The HPS Web Operations staff will deeply miss Mary’s editing wizardry, guidance, and generous nature.

Mary is also an accomplished artist who has generously shared some of her works with HPS to enhance our website or grace our newsletters. There is an online gallery where you can view Mary’s art, which is both beautiful and inspirational.

Mary and her husband Chris live in Minnesota and have four children, three daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren. She is happiest when she is hanging out with family and friends, taking walks in nature, and creating jewelry and colorful art.

Please join us in wishing both Mary Gene and Mary the very best in retirement. We sincerely wish their days are filled with friends, family, and happiness!

HPS commissioned original artwork by Burk & Associates, Inc.’s very own Lori Strong to be delivered to Mary Gene and Mary in honor of their many years of service to HPS.

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Photos courtesy of Edward Wallace

Peter Bryant, World Nuclear Transport Institute
“Radiation Protection for a New Nuclear Era:
Lessons from the UK and Insights for Global Deployment”

 

Hon. David Wright, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
“Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2026”

 

John Till, Risk Assessment Corporation
“The Remarkable Success of Radiation
Protection for America’s Atomic Veterans”

 

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Antonio Triventi, MS, CHP, Health Physics Society Standards Committee Chair

At the 71st Health Physics Society (HPS) Annual Meeting in National Harbor, I had the honor and privilege of chairing HPS Standards Committee’s (HPSSC) two-part special session “HPSSC: Advancing National and International Standards.”

While regulations dictate what compliance requires, voluntary consensus standards define how we execute health physics in the field. Throughout the day, our speakers and panelists explored this distinction across three key areas:

• Foundations and Accreditation: We examined the evolution of ANSI/HPS N13 and N43 standards, highlighting how the standards-development process ensures balance, transparency, and technical defensibility.
• Global Reach and Harmonization: Presentations demonstrated how US operational health physics insights directly shape ISO/TC 85/SC 2 international standards.
• Field Application and Leadership: Our formidable speakers highlighted the shift from passive compliance to proactive consensus building, emphasizing that real-world operational experience is the single most valuable input in standards authoring.

The session concluded with an engaging panel discussion featuring HPS standards leadership, reinforcing that consensus standards only succeed when field practitioners step up to shape them.

Thank you to all our presenters and attendees for a fantastic session!

Get Involved. Ready to step beyond the rulebook and join a working group?

• Visit the HPSSC Portal
• Reach out to Antonio Triventi

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Please join us for the 6th Radiation Epidemiology and Dosimetry Course, hosted by the Radiation Epidemiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. This course is intended for people interested in learning about the health effects of radiation exposure. Lectures will begin with fundamentals and progress to topical sessions on medical, occupational, and environmental radiation exposures. A draft of the course agenda can be found on the course website. The course material assumes participants have some familiarity with basic scientific concepts, statistics, biology, and physics.

The course will run 14–17 December 2026 in Rockville, Maryland from 9 am to 5 pm daily. This is an in-person event only. Lectures will be delivered in a large-group format (200+ people). Seating in the main room will be available each day on a first-come, first-served basis, with live streaming to an overflow room. Lectures will be recorded and posted online after the event. Informal lunch and evening gatherings will provide additional opportunities for discussion and networking. Coffee and meals will be on your own.

Registration is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Participants can register on the 2026 Radiation Epidemiology and Dosimetry Course website. Early registration is encouraged as space is limited.

For course-related questions, please visit the course website or contact Bessie Sinclair or Vibha Vij.

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