Professor Richard Wakeford

Biography

Richard Wakeford received a BSc in physics and a PhD in sub-nuclear physics from the University of Liverpool. 

He worked for British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) for almost 30 years before taking early retirement in 2006; for much of this time he was concerned with the risks posed by low level exposure to radiation, and he has written and lectured extensively on the subject.  In 1994 he received the Founder’s Prize of the Society for Radiological Protection for “contributions of distinction to radiological protection”.  Richard is currently Visiting Professor in Epidemiology at the Dalton Nuclear Institute of The University of Manchester and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Radiological Protection, a position he has held since 1997.  He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Cancer.  Richard was a member of the UK Government’s Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters (CERRIE), and is presently a member of the UK Government’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), of the European Commission’s Expert Advisory Group established under Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty, and the Subgroup on Human Radiosensitivity of the Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation (AGIR) of the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA).  He is a member of Committee 1 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection and has been a consultant to the United Nations Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).  Richard was a member of the UK Government’s Scientific Advice Group for Emergencies (SAGE) for the Japan Nuclear Incident.