The current activities of the international commission on radiological protection

ICRP was established in 1928 as the International X-ray and Radium Protection Committee. In 1950 the name was changed to reflect the wider scope of radiological protection. The present memberships of the Main Commission and its four Committees serve until July 2001. The four Committees are concerned with: (a) Biological Effects, Chaired by Roger Cox (UK); (b) Dosimetric Conversion Communicants, Chaired by Alexander Kaul (Germany); (c) Protection in Medicine, with Fred Mettler (USA) chairing; and (d) Application of the Commission's Recommendations, Chaired by Bert Winkler (South Africa). An outline of the progress of the four Committees is given here which represents the present priorities that ICRP has set during its four-year term. This will cover the recent publications approved by the Commission, but not yet published, together with reports on the progress of the Task Groups of each Committee. The way by which the Commission works is that, when any Committee has identified a subject on which it wishes to develop guidance, it proposes that the Main Commission appoints a Task Group. This will be Chaired by a Member of the Committee that proposed it, and composed of Members most of whom are likely not to be members of the Committee. The work of the Task Groups thus gives an indication of the topics which the Main Commission and the Committees consider to be the most important over their term of office. In addition, the Committees have working Parties composed solely of members of that Committee and which review topics that may eventually be proposed as Task Groups. The programmes of the Working Parties will also be described. The Main Commission itself is beginning to think about developing a position on the protection of the environment from radiation as well as consolidating its recommendations to incorporate policy points that have been promulgated since Publication 60. (author)