Effects of Atomic Radiation

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 50 Effects of atomic radiation, published in 2012.

What else is in this group?

71 documents · 1956–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/75	Effects of atomic radiation	2,118	–
2024	A/RES/79/85	Effects of atomic radiation	2,050	–
2023	A/RES/78/71	Effects of atomic radiation	1,847	–
2022	A/RES/77/119	Effects of atomic radiation	1,915	–
2021	A/RES/76/75	Effects of atomic radiation	2,150	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2014

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2014	A/69/350	Impact of the increase in the membership of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and possible approaches to further increases report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/66/70

What subjects does this mandate have?

18 subjects

Belarus Consultations Data Collection Finland Geographical Distribution Information Dissemination Ionizing Radiation Nuclear Accidents Pakistan Power Industry Radiation Radiation Effects Radiation Sickness Reporting Procedures Republic of Korea Spain Trust Funds Ukraine

What’s in this document?

19 operative paragraphs

Commends the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation for the valuable contribution it has been making since its inception to wider knowledge and understanding of the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation, and for fulfilling its original mandate with scientific authority and independence of judgement;

Reaffirms the decision to maintain the present functions and independent role of the Scientific Committee;

Takes note with appreciation of the work of the Scientific Committee and notes the report on its fifty-eighth session;⁴

⁴Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 46 (A/66/46).

Requests the Scientific Committee to continue its work, including its important activities to increase knowledge of the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation from all sources, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session;

Endorses the intentions and plans of the Scientific Committee for conducting its programme of work of scientific review and assessment on behalf of the General Assembly, in particular its decision to conduct a full assessment of the levels of exposure and radiation risks attributable to the accident following the great east-Japan earthquake and tsunami, calls upon the Scientific Committee to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session the report requested by the Assembly on the attributability of health effects from radiation exposure,⁵ encourages the Scientific Committee at its earliest convenience to submit the other related reports, including on assessments of levels of ionizing radiation from electrical energy production, as well as on the effects on human health and the environment, and requests the Scientific Committee to submit plans for its ongoing and future programme of work to the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session;

⁵See resolution 62/100, para. 6.

Calls upon the Secretariat to facilitate the timely publication of the reports of the Scientific Committee, inter alia, by continuing to streamline internal procedures as necessary, and to strive to publish the reports within the same calendar year as their approval;

Re-emphasizes the need for the Scientific Committee to hold regular sessions on an annual basis so that its report can reflect the latest developments and findings in the field of ionizing radiation and thereby provide updated information for dissemination among all States;

Invites the Scientific Committee to continue its consultations with scientists and experts from interested Member States in the process of preparing its future scientific reports, and requests the Secretariat to facilitate such consultations;

Welcomes, in this context, the readiness of Member States to provide the Scientific Committee with relevant information on the levels and effects of ionizing radiation, and invites the Scientific Committee to analyse and give due consideration to such information, particularly in the light of its own findings;

Also welcomes the strategy of the Scientific Committee to improve data collection, encourages in this regard Member States, the organizations of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations concerned to provide further relevant data about doses, effects and risks from various sources of radiation, which would greatly help in the preparation of future reports of the Scientific Committee to the General Assembly, and further encourages the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization and other relevant organizations to establish and coordinate with the Secretariat the arrangements for periodic collection and exchange of data on radiation exposures of workers, the general public, and, in particular, medical patients;

Requests the United Nations Environment Programme to continue and strengthen, as appropriate, support for the effective conduct of the work of the Scientific Committee and for the dissemination of its findings to the General Assembly, the scientific community and the public;

Urges the United Nations Environment Programme to continue to strengthen the funding of the Scientific Committee, pursuant to paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 65/96;

Encourages Member States to make voluntary contributions to the general trust fund established by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and also to make contributions in kind in order to support the work of the Scientific Committee;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General regarding the effects of atomic radiation in the Marshall Islands;⁶

⁶A/66/378.

Also takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the objective criteria and indicators to determine membership that would best support the essential work of the Scientific Committee and the financial implications of increased membership;⁷

⁷A/66/524.

Decides to increase the membership of the Scientific Committee from twenty-one to twenty-seven States, on the understanding that the increase in membership can be achieved from within existing resources for the biennium 2012–2013, and requests the Secretariat and Member States to use the budget and the meeting time allocated to the work of the Scientific Committee in the most efficient manner in order to best avoid additional budgetary implications of the increased membership in the future;

Invites Belarus, Finland, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Spain and Ukraine to become members of the Scientific Committee, and requests the Government of each of those States to designate one scientist, with alternates and consultants, as appropriate, to be its representative in the Committee;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session on the experience of the increase in the membership of the Scientific Committee to twenty-seven States regarding its effectiveness, quality of work and equitable geographical distribution, as well as on options for further increase procedures;

Decides to next consider reviewing the possible increase in the membership of the Scientific Committee at its seventy-second session, taking into account new expressions of interest in membership received by the Secretary-General between the sixty-sixth and seventy-second sessions of the General Assembly, all previous resolutions of the Assembly and, as appropriate, all relevant reports of the Secretary-General on the Scientific Committee as well as the principle of equitable geographical distribution and the need to ensure the effectiveness and the quality of work of the Scientific Committee, with a view to establishing a procedure at the seventy-third session for the possible further increase in the membership, and requests the Secretary-General to duly inform all Member States about this procedure.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What else is in this group?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents