JHPS working group report for the ICRP proposals toward new ICRP recommendations

After proposals presented by Professor Roger Clarke, chairman of the ICRP, in 1999(1) towards new ICRP recommendations, the Japan Health Physics Society set an ad hoc working group (hereinafter 'the Working Group') to investigate them and to make suggestions from the stand point as an academic society for radiological protection in Japan. The proposals made by ICRP toward new ICRP recommendations (hereinafter 'the ICRP Proposals') for radiological protection were based on individual oriented philosophy, which was changed from societal oriented in the present recommendations. The Working Group has one and a half year activities for the investigation while the ICRP proposals has been changed (2-3) taking into account the comments from the different international or national societies of the world. The Working Group had started with the discussions on the present system of radiation protection, and investigated the ICRP Proposals. The Working Group thought that well functioned philosophy and criteria of the system of radiation protection should basically be taken over. The Working Group summarized the suggestions such that 1) need the scientific rationality for newly introduced criteria or standards for the system of radiation protection, 2) understand, for the present, being no other options but to adopt linear no-threshold (LNT) hypothesis between dose and risk for the health effect at low level exposure to radiation as a precautionary principle in radiological protection, 3) role of stake holder should be explained as a example of one of the steps in the optimization process, 4) protective action level or dose limits should be related to the radiation risk even though they indicate only the levels for starting protective actions, 5) establishing a system of radiation protection for medical exposure is important. Discussions and the other suggestions are presented in the following text