Howard, B.J., Larsson, C-M.Preface: The ERICA Integrated Approach and its contribution to protection of the environment from ionising radiation.
J. Environ. Radioact., 99, 1361-1363
The ERICA Project (environmental risks from ionising radiation: assessment and management) was carried out between 2004 and 2007, as a joint effort between 15 institutions in seven European countries, and under the umbrella of the EC 6th Framework Programme.
The objective of the project was to ''provide and apply an integrated approach of addressing scientific, managerial and societal issues surrounding environmental effects of ionising contamination, at a community level, with emphasis on biota and ecosystems. The final outcome of the project will be the delivery of the ERICA Integrated Approach to assessment, risk characterisation and management of environmental risks of ionising radiation at a European level''. The two major outputs were the ERICA Integrated Approach and the ERICA Tool. The Integrated Approach seeks to combine exposure-dose-effect assessment with risk characterisation and managerial considerations, hence the Integrated Approach. The use of the Integrated Approach is facilitated by the ERICA Tool, which is a software programme that guides the user through the various steps, keeps records and communicates with a number of purpose-built databases. The general structure of the Integrated Approach is presented by Larsson (2008). In addition to these two deliverables, the project resulted in a number of reports as listed in Larsson (2008) and in new, updated and extended knowledge and methodology in many relevant areas. This special issue highlights some of the developments. All project documents can be accessed via links on the ERICA page of this site.