McMaster’s Director of Health Physics leads radiation safety course at World Nuclear University

Director of Health Physics, Josip Zic, was invited to this year’s World Nuclear University (WNU) Summer Institute in Osaka, Japan, where he delivered a four-part course on radiation safety.

WNU’s Summer Institute is a five-week nuclear leadership and professional development program with instruction from the world’s leading nuclear experts. Zic taught a program on radiation safety as part of the Week 1 theme, Leadership, Nuclear and the World Around Us.

The Summer Institute was established in 2005 to provide future nuclear industry leaders with a solid foundation of core nuclear principles alongside a broad curriculum of leadership, communications, and organizational development skills.

Zic participated in the Institute in 2016. He says the program enabled him to connect with the global nuclear industry and was a valuable part of his professional development.

“As an alumnus of the Institute, it was an honour to represent McMaster University and teach radiation safety to these high-performing young nuclear professionals who will become the next generation of senior leaders in the nuclear industry,” says Zic, who is also Co-Chair of the World Nuclear Association Radiation Protection Working Group.

Over 70 students from 30 countries participated in this year’s Summer Institute, representing a range of organizations, from mining and nuclear power to research centres and regulatory bodies.

Zic’s four-part course focused on radiation protection fundamentals and tools for planning and performing radiological work, conducting environmental risks assessments, and communicating with colleagues and the public about radiological risks, as well as the positive contributions the nuclear industry makes in clean energy, radiopharmaceuticals, materials research and much more.

Students were then given a hypothetical nuclear event and asked to use the concepts they learned throughout the course to prepare an appropriate and effective response from various senior leadership roles in the nuclear industry. 

Zic says the course was designed to engage students in interactive learning on radiation safety while developing skills that will help them become radiation safety leaders in their organizations.

“The course not only focused on the fundamentals of radiation safety, but explored how radiation safety guidelines are constantly evolving to ensure the utmost safety of nuclear workers, the public and the environment, so that we can continue using nuclear technologies in ways that benefit society,” he says.

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