2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner to speak at OSU Research Week

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Person wearing a dark suit, white shirt and red tie with a matching red pocket square standing against a blue background. — Abel Julio González

Abel Julio González, senior advisor, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Argentine Government, will give a public lecture on “The International Atomic Energy Agency: The Nobel Peace Prize 2005” on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Union Little Theatre. González will speak during OSU Research Week scheduled for Feb. 19-23, 2007.

For over two decades, González was director of Radiation Safety at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. As a senior officer, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Agency in 2005 for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.

González is an expert in radiation protection, i.e., protecting people and their habitat against the detrimental effects of ionizing radiation and the safety and security of radiation sources. He is a member of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, an apolitical technical body reporting to the United Nations General Assembly, which estimates the global levels and effects of exposure to ionizing radiation.

He is commissioner of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, a nonprofit academic charity founded in 1928 by the International Congress of Radiology, which issues global recommendations on radiological protection; vice-president of the International Radiation.

Protection Association assembles and represents radiation protection professionals worldwide and is a member of the IAEA’s Commission of Safety Standards, which establishes international standards on nuclear, radiation, waste and transport safety.

González will give a technical lecture, “2006 Scientific Progress in Radiation Protection: Protecting People and Their Habitat Against Atomic Radiation,” on Friday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in Room 106, Noble Research Center.

González will speak about United Nations estimates on the health effects of radiation exposure from a report by the United Nations Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation; the latest recommendations on radiation protection from the International Commission on Radiological Protection; developments in the protection of patients in radio-diagnosis and radio-therapy and outcomes from recent international conferences; a global assessment of the effects of the Chernobyl accident with results from the Chernobyl Forum; and protection against a terrorist attack with radioactive substances which includes current ICRP recommendations on terrorism.