In the last 30 days

• Open/close New ICRP recommendations

  A D Wrixon 2008 J. Radiol. Prot. 28 161 Tag this article

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  This paper provides a review of the 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). These new recommendations take account of the latest biological and physical information and consolidate the additional guidance provided by ICRP since 1990. The changes to the scientific data are not substantial. ICRP has retained its fundamental hypothesis for the induction of stochastic effects of linearity of dose and effect without threshold and a dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor (DDREF) of 2 to derive nominal risk coefficients for low doses and low dose rates. While the overall detriment from low radiation doses has remained unchanged, ICRP has made adjustments to the values of the radiation and tissue weighting factors. In particular, the tissue weighting factor for breast has increased while that for gonads has decreased. There are some presentational changes to the system of protection. While ICRP has maintained the three fundamental principles—justification, optimisation of protection, and dose limitation—it has attempted to develop a more holistic approach to radiological protection covering all exposure situations—planned, existing and emergency—and all radiation sources, whether of natural or artificial origin. This approach should ensure that attention is focused on those exposures that can reasonably be controlled. It has also strengthened the principle of optimisation of protection with a particular emphasis on the use of constraints for planned exposure situations and reference levels for existing and emergency exposure situations. Dose constraints and reference levels are categorised into three bands which should assist in rationalising the many values of dose restrictions given in earlier ICRP publications. There are no changes to the dose limits. ICRP also indicates its intentions with respect to the development of further guidance on the protection of the environment. The fact that these new recommendations are more a matter of consolidation of previous ICRP recommendations and guidance should provide confidence that the system of protection established by and large in its present form several decades ago has reached a certain level of maturity. As such, no major changes to radiological protection regulations based on the 1990 recommendations should be necessary.

• Open/close Radiation accidents over the last 60 years

  Jean-Claude Nénot 2009 J. Radiol. Prot. 29 301 Tag this article

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  Since the end of the Second World War, industrial and medical uses of radiation have been considerably increasing. Accidental overexposures of persons, in either the occupational or public field, have caused deaths and severe injuries and complications. The rate of severe accidents seems to increase with time, especially those involving the public; in addition, accidents are often not immediately recognised, which means that the real number of events remains unknown. Human factors, as well as the lack of elementary rules in the domains of radiological safety and protection, such as inadequate training, play a major role in the occurrence of the accidents which have been reported in the industrial, medical and military arenas.

• Open/close NCRP Report 151 Structural shielding design and evaluation for megavoltage x-and gamma-ray radiotherapy facilities

   2006 J. Radiol. Prot. 26 349 Tag this article

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  The full text of the book review in this issue is given in the PDF file.

• Open/close Human exposure to high natural background radiation: what can it teach us about radiation risks?

  Jolyon H Hendry et al 2009 J. Radiol. Prot. 29 A29 Tag this article

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  Natural radiation is the major source of human exposure to ionising radiation, and its largest contributing component to effective dose arises from inhalation of ²²²Rn and its radioactive progeny. However, despite extensive knowledge of radiation risks gained through epidemiologic investigations and mechanistic considerations, the health effects of chronic low-level radiation exposure are still poorly understood. The present paper reviews the possible contribution of studies of populations living in high natural background radiation (HNBR) areas (Guarapari, Brazil; Kerala, India; Ramsar, Iran; Yangjiang, China), including radon-prone areas, to low dose risk estimation.

  Much of the direct information about risk related to HNBR comes from case–control studies of radon and lung cancer, which provide convincing evidence of an association between long-term protracted radiation exposures in the general population and disease incidence. The success of these studies is mainly due to the careful organ dose reconstruction (with relatively high doses to the lung), and to the fact that large-scale collaborative studies have been conducted to maximise the statistical power and to ensure the systematic collection of information on potential confounding factors. In contrast, studies in other (non-radon) HNBR areas have provided little information, relying mainly on ecological designs and very rough effective dose categorisations. Recent steps taken in China and India to establish cohorts for follow-up and to conduct nested case–control studies may provide useful information about risks in the future, provided that careful organ dose reconstruction is possible and information is collected on potential confounding factors.

• Open/close The Windscale reactor accident—50 years on

  Richard Wakeford 2007 J. Radiol. Prot. 27 211 Tag this article

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  The full text of the Invited Editorial is given in the PDF file.

• Open/close The meaning of low dose and low dose-rate

  Richard Wakeford and E Janet Tawn 2010 J. Radiol. Prot. 30 1 Tag this article

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  The full text of the editorial is given in the PDF file.

• Open/close Review of relative biological effectiveness dependence on linear energy transfer for low-LET radiations

  Nezahat Hunter and Colin R Muirhead 2009 J. Radiol. Prot. 29 5 Tag this article

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  Information on Japanese A-bomb survivors exposed to gamma radiation has been used to estimate cancer risks for the whole range of photon (x-rays) and electron energies which are commonly encountered by radiation workers in the work place or by patients and workers in diagnostic radiology. However, there is some uncertainty regarding the radiation effectiveness of various low-linear energy transfer (low-LET) radiations (x-rays, gamma radiation and electrons). In this paper we review information on the effectiveness of low-LET radiations on the basis of epidemiological and in vitro radiobiological studies. Data from various experimental studies for chromosome aberrations and cell transformation in human lymphocytes and from epidemiological studies of the Japanese A-bomb survivors, patients medically exposed to radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and occupational exposures of nuclear workers are considered. On the basis of in vitro cellular radiobiology, there is considerable evidence that the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of high-energy low-LET radiation (gamma radiation, electrons) is less than that of low-energy low-LET radiation (x-rays, betas). This is a factor of about 3 to 4 for 29 kVp x-rays (e.g. as in diagnostic radiation exposures of the female breast) and for tritium beta-rays (encountered in parts of the nuclear industry) relative to Co-60 gamma radiation and 2–5 MeV gamma-rays (as received by the Japanese A-bomb survivors). In epidemiological studies, although for thyroid and breast cancer there appears to be a small tendency for the excess relative risks to decrease as the radiation energy increases for low-LET radiations, it is not statistically feasible to draw any conclusion regarding an underlying dependence of cancer risk on LET for the nominally low-LET radiations.

• Open/close WHO Workshop on Radiation Risk Assessment in Paediatric Health Care ALARA Issues Arising for the Safety and Security of Radiation Sources and Security Screening Devices: Summary and Recommendations

   2010 J. Radiol. Prot. 30 105 Tag this article

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  The full text of the meeting reports in this issue is given in the PDF file.

• Open/close What to believe and what not to believe

  Richard Wakeford 2008 J. Radiol. Prot. 28 5 Tag this article

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  The full text of the Editorial is given in the PDF file.

• Open/close Radon and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials

   2010 J. Radiol. Prot. 30 375 Tag this article

  Article References Full text PDF (72 KB)

  The full text of the meeting report in this issue is given in the PDF file.