The new ICRP general recommendations

Regulatory views from Japan, South Korea, Australia, China and Indonesia were explained based on their regional context. Some issues, for example 'optimisation', 'dose constrains', 'natural radioactivity', were addressed from the viewpoint of how each country's current regulation system would adopt these new recommendations. It was noted that there would be a need for some flexibility in applying these new recommendations since different countries have different regulatory criteria and benchmarks as well different decision-making processes. It was also noted that definitions and terminologies should be given serious consideration with regard to non-English speaking countries to assure that the new ICRP recommendations are clearly understood, not misinterpreted, easily translated and finally applied in the field of radiation protection. In addition, some recent radiation protection activities, as well as views on utilisation of nuclear power in several countries were presented. (authors)