Bo Lindell

Bo Lindell (1922 – 2016) was born in Stockholm, Sweden on August 1, 1922. He graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology in 1948 with a Degree in Engineering and obtained a PhD Radiation Physics from the same institution in 1965. In 1978, he was elected into the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and was later given a Technology Doctor honoris causa in 1982.

Lindell started his career in 1948 at the then Institute of Radiophysics in Stockholm, a university and hospital departmental licensing authority headed by Rolf Sievert. In 1965, he succeeded Sievert as head of the licensing authority, serving until his retirement in 1982 and for an additional 20 years as an emeritus consultant. He was a co-founder of the Swedish Society for Risk Sciences in 1988 and served as its first Chair.

During his career, Lindell served as a Scientific Secretary, Swedish representative, and Chair of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) where he developed one of his major ideas, “The Dose Commitment”, which was later used to take account of long-term and long-distance accumulation when regulating radioactive emissions. He was a founding member and representative of the Nordic Society for Radiation Protection when International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) formed in 1964, and later served as an IRPA Executive Council member. He also frequently participated in the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Lindell also had a seminal role in the history of ICRP. Before joining the Main Commission in 1962, he served as Scientific Secretary for the 1957-1962 term. He served on the Main Commission with distinction and was elected to Chairman in 1977. Lindell made several important contributions to ICRP, including a central role in the creation of ICRP recommendations in Publication 26. He also wrote the important Annex C, on Judging the Significance of Radiation Effects in the 1990 recommendations (ICRP Publication 60), and was instrumental in clarifying the concepts of Acceptability (of practices) and Tolerability (of risks).  In 2017, ICRP established the Bo Lindell Medal for the Promotion of Radiological Protection by early- to mid-career individuals to honour his memory and dedication.

Brilliant yet unassuming and with an uncanny working capacity, Bo Lindell was genuinely kind and had a great affection for anyone interested in science, administration, regulatory philosophy, or the art of picking mushrooms. His great strengths were his solid objectivity, his capacity for explaining complicated issues, his understanding of long-term consequences and his overall solid ethics. He reverently listened to the views of others but stood his ground once he had formed a well-founded opinion. He created a cheerful atmosphere and was always willing to help those interested in radiological protection, whether old or young, at home and abroad. ICRP and other members of the radiological protection community will remember him gratefully and fondly.

REFERENCES:

Gonzalez, A.J., Holm, L.-E., Snihs, J.O., Valentin, J.  2017.  Bo Lindell (1922-2016).  Journal of Radiological Protection.  37: 555.