Bo Lindell passed away peacefully at the age of 94 in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 10, 2016.
‘Bosse’, as he was fondly called and signed his personal letters, was a giant in radiological protection.
He was Director of SSI, the predecessor of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten, from 1965-1982, and a member of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) from 1965-1988.
He served as ICRP Scientific Secretary of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) from 1957-1962, the 5th to hold the post and the first Swede. He was a member of the Main Commission since 1962, during which time he served as a member of Committee 4 (1962-1965), Chairman of Committee 3 (1965-1977), ICRP Vice-Chairman (1969-1977) under Rolf Sievert and Sir Eric Pochin, and then and served as the 8th ICRP Chairman (1977-1985). Upon leaving his position of ICRP Chairman, he was appointed for life as an Emeritus Member of the Main Commission, an honorary distinction in appreciation of extraordinary contributions to ICRP.
Few have had such a long and illustrious role in ICRP. Among his many important contributions, he played a central role in the development of the 1977 Recommendations of the ICRP (ICRP Publication 26). These recommendations laid out the fundamental structure of the system of radiological protection still used today.
Bosse Lindell was one of the founder members of the Nordic Society for Radiation Protection (NSFS) in 1964, and participated as a representative of NSFS as one of the founder Societies in the formation of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) later the same year. He continued to play Bo also played a key role in IRPA and the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA). He was elected to the first IRPA Executive Council in 1966, serving two terms until 1973.
Bosse was always keen on Nordic co-operation in radiation matters, He involved Nordic colleagues in discussions before all UNSCEAR meetings and reported back to them after the meetings. He also initiated, in 1969, the very successful and still continuing series of ‘Nordic Flag Books’ – joint documents by the radiological protection authorities in the five Nordic countries providing agreements on how to interpret and apply ICRP Recommendations.
To mark his passing, for the first time an excerpt of an interview of Bo Lindell conducted in May 2012 as part of the ICRP Oral History Project has been released, and we thank ICRP for permission to quote it here.
Excerpt of May 2012 Interview with Bo Lindell
