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Abbreviation | UNSCEAR |
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Formation | 1955 |
Type | Scientific Committee |
Legal status | Active |
Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
Chair | Jing Chen (Canada)[1] |
Parent organization | United Nations |
Website | unscear |
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The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) was set up by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1955. Twenty-one states are designated to provide scientists to serve as members of the committee which holds formal meetings (sessions) annually and submits a report to the General Assembly. The organisation has no power to set radiation standards nor to make recommendations in regard to nuclear testing. It was established solely to "define precisely the present exposure of the population of the world to ionizing radiation". A small secretariat, located in Vienna and functionally linked to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), organizes the annual sessions and manages the preparation of documents for the committee's scrutiny.