Effects of Atomic Radiation

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 47 Effects of atomic radiation, published in 2016.

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.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Information Dissemination Ionizing Radiation Radiation Effects Trust Funds

What’s in this document?

18 operative paragraphs

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

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

Notes with appreciation the work of the Scientific Committee, and takes note of the report on its sixty-third session,² including the consideration of its long-term strategic directions, and encourages the Committee, over its coming sessions, to work towards implementing strategies to support its efforts to serve the scientific community as well as wider audiences;

²Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-first Session, Supplement No. 46 (A/71/46).

Appreciates that the Scientific Committee has made arrangements for activities to follow up on its 2013 evaluation of the levels and effects of radiation exposure due to the nuclear accident after the 2011 great east-Japan earthquake and tsunami, such as the systematic review of scientific information that has been published since the completion of the Committee’s evaluation,³ welcomes the publication of the second review, and encourages the secretariat of the Committee to disseminate the findings of the Committee’s systematic reviews, in particular, to the public;

³Ibid., chap. II, sect. B.

Welcomes the four substantive scientific evaluations completed by the Scientific Committee during its sixty-third session, as presented in its report, notes with appreciation the Committee’s reports on the methodology for estimating public exposures due to radioactive discharges, on radiation exposures from electricity generation and on biological effects of selected internal emitters (tritium and radioisotopes of uranium),⁴ and looks forward to the publication of the supporting scientific annexes thereto;

⁴Ibid., chap. III.

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 seventy-second session;

Supports 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 next periodic global surveys of radiation exposure, to be conducted in close cooperation with other relevant organizations, and requests the Committee to submit plans for its ongoing and future programme of work to the Assembly at its seventy-second session;

Welcomes developments in streamlining procedures for publishing the reports of the Scientific Committee electronically on its official website and as sales publications, and calls upon the secretariat to monitor the timely publication of those reports and to continue to strive to publish them 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 Committee to analyse and give due consideration to such information, particularly in the light of its own findings;

Recalls 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 levels, effects and risks of radiation exposure from various sources, which would greatly help in the preparation of future reports of the Committee to the General Assembly, and encourages the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and other relevant organizations to further collaborate with the secretariat on arrangements for the collection, analysis and dissemination of data on radiation exposures of patients, workers and the public;

Welcomes the use and ongoing development by the secretariat of an online platform for collecting data on medical exposures, encourages Member States to take part in the Scientific Committee’s global surveys of radiation exposure, and also encourages Member States to nominate a national contact person to facilitate coordination of the collection and submission of data on exposures of patients, workers and the public within their country;

Requests the United Nations Environment Programme to continue, within existing resources, to actively support the effective conduct of the work of the Scientific Committee and the dissemination of its findings to Member States, the scientific community and the public;

Takes note, in this regard, of the Scientific Committee’s outreach strategy for the coming years, in particular the enhancement of the website of the Committee and the publication of informative leaflets and posters in all the official languages of the United Nations, and continues to encourage that consideration be given to publishing the website in all of those languages;

Encourages the United Nations Environment Programme to continue to maintain appropriate funding for the Scientific Committee, pursuant to paragraph 15 of General Assembly resolution 70/81 of 9 December 2015;

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, and the dissemination of its findings, in a sustainable manner;

Recalls paragraph 19 of General Assembly resolution 66/70 of 9 December 2011, notes the expression of interest by Member States in membership in the Scientific Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to provide the Assembly at its seventy-second session with a list of the Member States that have expressed their particular interest in membership in the Committee by 11 September 2017, for consideration for membership pursuant to the above-mentioned paragraph.

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