Monetary values of unit collective dose in optimization of radiation protection

The monetary value of unit collective dose, which represents the benefit of dose reduction due to the protective measures, is a key element in implementing the optimization principle of the radiation protection. The objective of this paper are to evaluate the country-specific monetary value of unit collective dose reflecting the economic and population characteristics in Japan, as well as to analyze the balance of the cost and benefit of the radiological protective measures. When we calculated the monetary values of unit collective dose in Japan using human capital method and willingness to pay approach, the values were around several million yen/person-Sv and 20 million yen/person-Sv, respectively. In addition, we surveyed the data on costs of radiological protective measures per the avoided person-Sv. As the results of comparing the cost and benefit, the costs of radiological protective measures to reduce the concentration of radon in homes and to protect workers in nuclear facilities were balanced with the benefit. On the other hand, the costs of radionuclide emission control measures at industrial facilities tend to be higher than the benefit of those measures. (author)