For nearly half a century, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation has been an influential resource on radiation sources and their effects on human health and the environment. But if its budget is not resuscitated, UNSCEAR’s data compilation and evaluation activities will grind to a halt.

UNSCEAR’s budget, $674 000 for the two-year period 2002–03, is roughly half of what it was a decade ago. Because of the crunch, UNSCEAR cancelled its annual meeting this spring and will instead meet just once, in January, during the current two-year budget period. But hardest hit is the portion of UNSCEAR’s budget that covers travel and honoraria for outside consultants: 10 years ago, it was $180 000; by 2000–01, it had shrunk to $52 000; and for 2002–03, it was further chopped in half. “We can’t run on that,” says Norman Gentner, scientific secretary for UNSCEAR, which is...

You do not currently have access to this content.