Kenneth Mossman
Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Affiliated faculty, ASU Center for the Study of Law,
Science and Technology, Sandra Day O´Connor College of Law
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellow, Health Physics Society
Guggenheim Fellow
Kenneth L. Mossman joined the ASU faculty in 1990. He is Professor of Health Physics in the School of Life Sciences. From 1990-1992, he served as Assistant Vice President for Research at Arizona State, and from 1997-2004 served as Director, University Office of Radiation Safety. During the period 1973-1990, Dr. Mossman was on the faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and was Professor and founding Chairman of the Department of Radiation Science at Georgetown from 1985-1990. Dr. Mossman served as president of the Health Physics Society from 1993-1994.
Dr. Mossman's research interests are in the general area of public health with specialization in radiological health and safety. He has published widely on various topics including biological effects of low and high dose x-, gamma, and neutron irradiation, radiation exposure in pregnancy, health effects of environmental radon, and radiation protection and public policy. Dr. Mossman has over 160 publications in the open literature including eight books and proceedings related to radiation health issues.
Dr. Mossman is recognized internationally as an expert on health effects of ionizing radiation exposure. He is a former president of the Health Physics Society (the largest radiological safety organization in the world with over 6000 members) and member of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He has served on advisory committees to several national and international organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Research Council of the National Academies, the Nuclear Energy Agency (Paris) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna). He has also testified before the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
Current research projects include:
Nuclear Regulatory Science and Policy: Research has focused on strategies to reconfigure the regulatory framework for U.S. radiation protection with the goal of maintaining or improving public and worker health and safety while reducing regulatory compliance costs. Regulatory costs in the nuclear power sector exceed $20 billion per year. Costs can be reduced sharply when health and environmental benefits of risk reduction are questionable.
Managing Small Risks and Prioritization of Risks: Research focuses on management of activities that involve small risks. Life is a risky business. Every day we all face risks of one sort or another. However, inordinate attention is often paid to public control of activities that involve very small risks. Why are people more concerned about the health effects of radiation from cell phones when the much greater risk involves the use of cell phone while driving?
Selected Recent Publications
Expert Group on the Implications of Radiation Protection Science, Scientific Issues and Emerging Challenges in Radiation Protection: Report of the Expert Group on the Implications of Radiation Protection Science, NEA #06167 ; ISBN 978-92-64-99032-6. Paris : Nuclear Energy Agency, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; 2007 (Expert Group member)
Mossman, K.L. Radiation Risks in Perspective. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis Publishing Group; 2006
Mossman, K.L. Health effects of ionizing radiation exposure in medicine: Current issues. In: Medical Health Physics (eds: Medich, DC and Martel, C), Madison, WI: Medical Physics Publishing, pp. 320-333; 2006.
Marchant, G.E. and Mossman, K. L. Arbitrary and Capricious: The Precautionary Principle in the European Union Courts. Washington, DC: The AEI Press; 2004. Republished in Europe by International Policy Press (London); 2005
Collins, K.M., M. Dantico, N.B.C. Shearer, and K.L. Mossman, Heart disease awareness among college students. Journal of Community Health (Sept/Oct 2004)
National Research Council, Improving the Characterization Program for Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Bound for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2004 ( National Research Council committee member)
Mossman, K.L. The role of advisory organizations in ionizing radiation protection science and policy: a proposal. Medical Phys. 30:1129-1134; 2003.
Mossman, K.L., A perspective on the ICRP approach to radiation protection of the environment. Proceedings of the 2nd NEA Forum in collaboration with ICRP "The Future Policy for Radiological Protection: A Stakeholder Dialogue on the Implications of the ICRP proposals" Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, 2-4 April 2003; NEA4291; Paris: OECD; 2003
Mossman, K.L. Bomb dosimetry unlikely to change risk estimates. Nature 425: 237; 18 September 2003
Mossman, K.L. Challenges for radiation protection in the 21st century. Nuclear Policy Outlook, Fourth Quarter, 2003: 5,8; Nuclear Energy Institute 2003.
Mossman, K.L. Restructuring nuclear regulations. Environmental Health Perspectives 111: 13-17; 2003
Mossman, K.L. and G.E. Marchant. Radiation protection and the precautionary principle. Risk: Health, Safety & Environment 13: 137-149; 2002.
Pentreath, R. J. and K. L. Mossman, Looking at the future of radioecology. Science 298: 1333-1334; 2002