A nuclear fuel cycle operator's point of view on the applicability of the new ICRP recommendations to aspects of nuclear safety

The first section of the Paper deals with the ICRP recommendations, and makes general comments. The next two sections deal with the implications of the new recommendations on design and operation of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities. The following conclusions are drawn: - The reductions in annual dose limits proposed in the new ICRP recommendations can be accommodated in the majority of modern nuclear fuel cycle facilities, and are less stringent than current design objectives. There are significant national differences between the UK and France in ability to accommodate the new ICRP recommendations on risk limitation from potential exposure situations (accidents). The French view is that it is not realistic to base the safety of industrial installations on risk limits expressed in terms of probability of deaths, while UK experience largely gained in the chemical and other industries, as well as in the nuclear industry, suggests that nuclear fuel cycle facilities will have no difficulty in demonstrating compliance with risk limits currently proposed by ICRP. It is unlikely that underground uranium mining operations, however sophisticated, will be able to operate within the new ICRP recommended dose limits