Evaluation of the detriment associated with exposure at low doses and low dose rates in the radiation protection system

Questions about quantifying the radiological risk associated with exposure to ionising radiation have been debated repeatedly for a variety of exposure situations, including, among others, medical irradiation, discharges from nuclear facilities, transportation of radioactive waste, and potential nuclear accidents. This paper aims to shed light on the link between exposure and risk, focusing on the items that constitute the detriment associated with this exposure. The management of the risk associated with it relies on a cautious hypothesis of a linear no-threshold relation between exposure and risk of death or detriment. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) published General Recommendations in 1966 that recognised this relation, but did not publish a quantification of the risk until 1977. The Commission introduced the concept of effective dose as a risk indicator that makes it possible to determine dose limits according to the risk associated with them. In 1990, the Commission proposed a revision of the quantification and construction of detriment. New limits, based on risk quantification and, for the first time, risk tolerability, were proposed. The optimisation of radiation protection - keeping radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable in light of the economic and social context - became the key principle of the radiation protection system. The use of detriment makes it possible to use economic tools to guide the decision process for this optimisation - by assessing the monetary value of human life. This concept, widely used in health economics during the 1980's, has been criticised by many and must be used cautiously. ICRP published the latest quantifications of detriment in 2007. Detriment is thus an indicator that assesses the risk of death associated with exposure to ionising radiation for an average individual. Its construction relies on simplifying assumptions that are needed to implement a robust and effective radiation protection system. (authors)