Catalogue description Records of the National Radiological Protection Board

The National Radiological Protection Board came into being following the Radiological Protection Act 1970. This act applied throughout the United Kingdom, and thus the Board's responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales. By the terms of the act, the Board is responsible to the Secretary of State for Social Services, who acts on behalf of the health ministers of the UK. Under s1(3) of the act, the Board assumed responsibility for the Radiological Protection Service (which had previously been provided by the Medical Research Council and the UK health departments), and the radiological protection functions previously exercised by the central Health and Safety Branch of the UK Atomic Energy Authority on 1 April 1971. The Board is financed by government, but is required to maximise its income by charging for its services to other organisations, including government departments.

The Board consists of not less than seven and not more than nine members in addition to a chairman, who are appointed by the health ministers following consultation with UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Medical Research Council; the Secretary of State for Social Services is authorised to alter the size of the Board after consultation with it. It was created to establish a national point of authoritative reference for radiological protection, and its functions are: to advance the acquisition of knowledge about protection from radiation hazards; and to provide information and advice to organisations and individuals in the UK on protection from radiation hazards. Radiation hazards are defined as the dangers of ionising radiations emitted by radioactive substances or other sources.

On an international level, the Board is responsible for co-ordinating and representing UK interests in radiological protection. Nationally, the Board is required to co-ordinate the National Arrangements for Incidents involving Radioactivity (NAIR), and it helps determine appropriate standards of training, and organises training, for radiological safety officers and other personnel with responsibilities for radiological safety matters.

In 2002, the National Radiological Protection Board was proposed for amalgamation with the Public Health Laboratory Service, Centre for Applied Microbiology & Research and the National Focus for Chemical Incidents (NFCI) along with parts of the NHS concerned with infection control and public health to form the Health Protection Agency. The Health Protection Agency Act was passed in 2004, which established the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, comprising Radiological Protection Division (ex NRPB) and Chemical Hazards & Poisons Division (NFCI and staff from Department of Health and other organisations) as part of the Health Protection Agency.