Recent, past and near future activities of ICRP Committee 2

A lecture on the recent past and near future activities of the ICRP Committee 2 is presented. In 1967, Committee 2 commenced work on Publication 30 'Limits for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers'. Part I, published in 1979, includes limits and metabolic data for the radioisotopes of 21 elements. Specific new concepts in the publication such as Annual Limits on Intake (ALI), Derived Air Concentrations (DAC), annual dose commitment and effective dose equivalent are considered. The use of some of these concepts are illustrated in the derivation of the ALI for ingested 239Pu. Actual limit values are also tabulated for 239Pu. Oral ALI's are listed for compounds exhibiting two absorption fractions. Inhalation ALI's are listed for two compound classes, Class Y being applicable to plutonium oxide and Class W to other commonly occurring compounds. Values of the DAC are also shown for the two compound classes. Limits for a further 31 elements are in the final stage of compilation and will soon be published as Part 2 of ICRP Publication 30. Part 3 and possibly Part 4 of Publication 30 will be required to complete the elements. (UK)