- The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) was set up by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1955.
- 21 states are designated to provide scientists to serve as members of the committee which holds formal meetings (sessions) annually and submits a report to the General Assembly.
- The organisation has no power to set radiation standards nor to make recommendations in regard to nuclear testing. It was established solely to “define precisely the present exposure of the population of the world to ionizing radiation.