National Radiation-Epidemiological Register

The Sector includes the Department of Radiation Risk Assessment and Software of the National Radiation-Epidemiological Register (NRER) and two independent scientific divisions – the Laboratory of Radiation-Ecological Informatics and the Laboratory of Population Radiation Epidemiology. The department consists of two laboratories – the Laboratory for Radiation Risk Assessment and Mathematical Modeling and the Laboratory for Software and Mathematical Support of the NRER. The sector employs scientists, specializing in such scientific areas as: radiation epidemiology, radiation medicine, radiobiology, dosimetry, informatics, mathematical modeling, etc.

The history of the creation of the Sector begins from the All-Union Distributed Register (AUDR) formed by the Government of the USSR in 1986, after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. All the Republics of the Soviet Union, a large number of scientific and medical institutions were involved in the creation of the AUDR. The collapse of the USSR (1991) led to the formation of the Russian National Medical and Dosimetrical  Registry (RNMDR). In 1993, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 22.09.93   № 948 «On the state registration of persons which were affected by radiation exposure and exposed to radiation as a result of Chernobyl NPP and other radiation catastrophes and incidents» the National Radiation-Epidemiological Register (NRER) was established on the basis of RNMDR.

On December 30, 2012 The President of the Russian Federation signed Federal Law № 329 «On the introduction of amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in terms of ensuring the accounting of changes in the state of health of certain categories of citizens exposed to radiation» at improving the activities of the National Radiation-Epidemiological Register as a State information system for the personal data of citizens who were exposed to radiation as a result of the Chernobyl NPP and other radiation accidents, nuclear tests and other radiation catastrophes and incidents, in order to accommodate the changes in the health of such citizens during their lives for following targeted medical care, as well as prediction of medical radiological consequences, including those far away.

You can find an additional information about the National Radiation-epidemiological Register here –  www.nrer.ru.

• Development of fundamental and applied scientific research in the field of radiation epidemiology and assessment of radiation risks to human health due to exposure as a result of nuclear accidents and incidents; in the process of production activities related to nuclear technologies; during medical X-ray and radiological procedures;
• Development of complex methods for assessing radiation risks of the development of oncological, genetic and somatic diseases, development and implementation of new informative methods of biological and physical dosimetry, study of uncertainty factors in restoring the dose-effect relationship;
• Scientific and methodological support of work on the implementation of the state concept of socially acceptable risk in the field of radiation safety and the activity  on the preparation of national standards and norms of radiation safety;
• Support of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Radiation Epidemiology for the development of scientific and applied research in this field;
• Implementation of the organizational activities of The Russian Scientific Commission on Radiological Protection (RSCRP), functioning by a decision of the Russian Security Council;
• Collecting the data and materials for the NRER newsletter «Radiation and Risk» (included in the list of leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and publications produced in the Russian Federation, in which the main scientific results of the thesis for a Doctor’s Degree and Ph.D. must be published.), published in Russian and English languages, where the work of leading domestic and foreign scientists in such scientific fields as radiation epidemiology, medical radiology, dosimetry, biomedical statistics are published;
• Preparation of Russian data and materials  on medical radiological consequences for scientific reports of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Employees of the Radiation and Epidemiological Sector constantly take an active part in international research projects and work lot of in the framework of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Radiation Epidemiology for Development established in 1995 on the basis of the sector scientific and applied research in this area. The most significant international projects in which RES employees participated include: AIFECA (International Program on the Medical Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident); FGI (International Research Program “German-French Initiative for Chernobyl “); CANUC (International project on Cancer risk following chronic radiation exposure in the Nuclear industry). The research findings, generated by the specialists of the sector in the framework of the activities of the WHO Collaborating Center and international projects form the basis of the materials of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation of (UNSCEAR) on the actual and predicted medical consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

On the basis of the RES, the Russian Scientific Commission on Radiological Protection (RSCRP) under the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, created on behalf of the Russian Security Council, is constantly working, ensuring the development of national Radiation Safety Standards and the harmonization of national and international standards in the field of radiation protection of the country’s population.

The National Radiation and Epidemiological Registry cooperates with international organizations:

WHO – World Health Organization;

IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency;

IARC – International Agency for Cancer Research as well as leading overseas centers;

RNPCRM and EC – National Scientific and Practical Centre for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology (Gomel, Belarus);

BelCMT – Belarusian Center for Medical Technologies in Informatics, Management and Health Economic;

NRCRM – Ukrainian Scientific Centre for Radiation Medicine (Kiev, Ukraine);