CERRIE was an independent Committee established by the UK Government in 2001, following concerns about the risks of internal radiation. The Committee operated between October 2001 and October 2004.

Although the Committee was set up and sponsored by two UK Government departments, DEFRA (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and DH (Department of Health), it operated completely independently of them. Its Final Report was not vetted by any Government agency.


Dr John Harrison

John Harrison is Leader of the Radionuclide Effects Group of the Radiation Effects Department of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) at Chilton, Oxfordshire. He gained his PhD. in Biochemistry at St. George's Hospital Medical School, University of London and joined the NRPB in 1974.

His research work has centred on radionuclide biokinetics and dosimetry and more recently on radiation effects. Studies have included aspects of the toxicity of plutonium -239 and other alpha-emitters, tritium and the Auger emitter, zinc-65.

He has acted as a consultant to IAEA, participated in a review of the carcinogenic risk of radionuclide exposures for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, WHO) and serves as a member of ICRP Task Groups. He is frequently involved in answering requests from government departments and others for information on doses and risks from radionuclide exposures. He is currently leading a study for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to reassess risks from possible exposures of members of the public to fuel fragments from the Dounreay site.

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© Cerrie 2004