In this report, the Commission provides guidance for the protection of people living in long-term contaminated areas resulting from either a nuclear accident or a radiation emergency. The report considers the effects of such events on the affected population. This includes the pathways of human exposure, the types of exposed populations, and the characteristics of exposures. Although the focus is on radiation protection considerations, the report also recognises the complexity of post-accident situations, which cannot be managed without addressing all the affected domains of daily life, i.e. environmental, health, economic, social, psychological, cultural, ethical, political, etc. The report explains how the 2007 Recommendations apply to this type of existing exposure situation, including consideration of the justification and optimisation of protection strategies, and the introduction and application of a reference level to drive the optimisation process. The report also considers practical aspects of the implementation of protection strategies, both by authorities and the affected population. It emphasises the effectiveness of directly involving the affected population and local professionals in the management of the situation, and the responsibility of authorities at both national and local levels to create the conditions and provide the means favouring the involvement and empowerment of the population. The role of radiation monitoring, health surveillance, and the management of contaminated foodstuffs and other commodities is described in this perspective. The Annex summarises past experience of long term contaminated areas resulting from radiation emergencies and nuclear accidents, including radiological criteria followed in carrying out remediation measures.

This report considers the evidence relating to cancer risk associated with exposure to low doses of low-LET radiation, and particularly doses below current recommended limits for protection of radiation workers and the general public. It looks at the possibility of establishing a universal threshold dose below which there is no risk of radiation-related cancer. The focus is on evidence regarding linearity of dose response for all cancers considered as a group, but not necessarily individually, at low doses (the so-called linear, no-threshold (LNT) hypothesis). The report concludes that while existence of a low-dose threshold does not seem unlikely for radiation-related cancers, it does not favor the existence of a universal threshold. The LNT hypothesis, combined with an uncertain dose and dose rate effectiveness factor (DDREF) for extrapolation from high doses, remains a prudent basis for radiation protection at low doses and low dose rates.

In the present report, ICRP provides information on radiation doses to the infant due to intakes of radionuclides in maternal milk. As in Publication 88 (ICRP, 2001) on doses to the embryo and fetus following intakes of radionuclides by the mother, intakes by female members of the public and female workers are addressed. Acute and chronic intakes are considered at various times before and during pregnancy as well as during the period of breastfeeding. Dose coefficients per unit intake by the mother (Sv/Bq) are given for the selected radionuclides of the same 31 elements for which age-specific biokinetic models were given in Publications 56, 67, 69, and 71. For these elements, doses were calculated for the most radiologically significant natural or artificial radionuclides that might be released into the environment due to various human activities. Dose coefficients are also given in this report for radionuclides of an additional four elements: sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.

The purpose of this Publication is to provide guidance on radiological protection in industries involving NORM. These industries may give rise to multiple hazards and the radiological hazard is not necessarily dominant. The industries are diverse and may involve exposure to people and the environment where protective actions need to be considered. In some cases, there is a potential for significant routine exposure to workers and members of the public if suitable control measures are not considered.

This publication presents radionuclide-specific organ and effective dose-rate coefficients for members of the public resulting from environmental external exposures to radionuclide emissions of both photons and electrons, calculated using computational phantoms representing the ICRP reference newborn, 1-year-old, 5-year-old, 10-year-old, 15-year-old, and adult males and females. Environmental radiation fields of monoenergetic photon and electron sources were firstly computed using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code PHITS for source geometries representing environmental radionuclide exposures including planar sources on and within the ground at different depths (representing radionuclide ground contamination from fall-out or naturally occurring terrestrial sources), volumetric sources in air (representing a radioactive cloud), and uniformly distributed sources in simulated contaminated water.

Following the issuance of new radiological protection recommendations in Publication 103 (ICRP, 2007), the Commission released, in Publication 110 (ICRP, 2009), the adult male and female voxel-type reference computational phantoms to be used for the calculation of the reference dose coefficients for both external and internal exposures. While providing more anatomically realistic representations of internal anatomy than the older stylised phantoms, the voxel phantoms have their limitations, mainly due to voxel resolution, especially with respect to small tissue structures (e.g. lens of the eye) and very thin tissue layers (e.g. stem cell layers in the stomach wall mucosa and intestinal epithelium). This report describes the construction of the adult mesh-type reference computational phantoms (MRCPs) that are the modelling counterparts of the Publication 110 voxel-type reference computational phantoms. The MRCPs include all source and target regions needed for estimating effective dose, even the m-thick target regions in the respiratory and alimentary tract, skin, and urinary bladder, assimilating the supplemental stylised models. The MRCPs can be directly implemented into Monte Carlo particle transport codes for dose calculations, i.e. without voxelisation, fully maintaining the advantages of the mesh geometry.

During their occupational activities in space, astronauts are exposed to ionising radiation from natural radiation sources present in this environment. They are, however, not usually classified as being occupationally exposed in the sense of the general ICRP system for radiation protection of workers applied on Earth. The exposure assessment and risk-related approach described in this report is clearly restricted to the special situation in space, and should not be applied to any other exposure situation on Earth. The report describes the terms and methods used to assess the radiation exposure of astronauts, and provides data for the assessment of organ doses.

This report updates and consolidates previous recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) related to solid waste disposal. The recommendations given apply specifically to geological disposal of long-lived solid radioactive waste. The report explains how the ICRP system of radiological protection described in Publication 103 can be applied in the context of the geological disposal of long-lived solid radioactive waste. Although the report is written as a standalone document, previous ICRP recommendations not dealt with in depth in the report are still valid.

This report gives fluence to dose conversion coefficients for both effective dose and organ absorbed doses for various types of external exposures, consistent with the 2007 Recommendations of the ICRP. These coefficients were calculated using the official ICRP/ICRU computational phantoms representing the Reference Adult Male and Reference Adult Female, in conjunction with Monte Carlo codes simulating the transport of radiation within the human body such as EGSnrc, FLUKA, GEANT4, MCNPX, and PHITS. The incident radiations and energy ranges considered were external beams of mono-energetic photons of 10 keV-10 GeV, electrons and positrons of 50 keV-10 GeV, neutrons of 0.001 eV-10 GeV, protons of 1 MeV-10 GeV, pions (negative/positive) of 1 MeV-200 GeV, muons (negative/positive) of 1 MeV-10 GeV, and helium ions of 1 MeV/u-100 GeV/u.

In Publication 103, the Commission included a section on the protection of the environment, and indicated that it would be further developing its approach to this difficult subject by way of a set of Reference Animals and Plants (RAPs) as the basis for relating exposure to dose, and dose to radiation effects, for different types of animals and plants. Subsequently, a set of 12 RAPs has been described in some detail, particularly with regard to estimation of the doses received by them, at a whole-body level, in relation to internal and external radionuclide concentrations; and what is known about the effects of radiation on such types of animals and plants. A set of dose conversion factors for all of the RAPs has been derived, and the resultant dose rates can be compared with evaluations of the effects of dose rates using derived consideration reference levels (DCRLs). Each DCRL constitutes a band of dose rates for each RAP within which there is likely to be some chance of the occurrence of deleterious effects. Site-specific data on Representative Organisms (i.e. organisms of specific interest for an assessment) can then be compared with such values and used as a basis for decision making.

Recent epidemiological studies of the association between lung cancer and exposure to radon and its decay products are reviewed. Particular emphasis is given to pooled case-control studies of residential exposures and to cohorts of underground miners exposed to relatively low levels of radon. The residential and miner epidemiological studies provide consistent estimates of lung cancer risk with statistically significant associations observed at average annual concentrations of about 200 Bq m-3 and cumulative occupational levels of about 50 WLM, respectively. Based on recent results from combined analyses of epidemiological studies of miners, a lifetime excess absolute risk of 5 x 10-4 per WLM (14 x 10-5 per mJ h m-3) should now be used as the nominal probability coefficient for radon and radon progeny induced lung cancer, replacing the previous ICRP Publication 65 value of 2.8 x 10-4 per WLM (8 x 10-5 per mJ h m-3). Current knowledge of radon associated risks for organs other than the lungs does not justify the selection of a detriment coefficient different from the fatality coefficient for radon-induced lung cancer.

This report describes the development and intended use of the computational phantoms of the Reference Male and Reference Female. In its 2007 Recommendations, ICRP adopted these computational phantoms for forthcoming updates of organ dose coefficients for both internal and external radiation sources (ICRP, 2007). The phantoms are based on medical image data of real people, yet are consistent with the data given in Publication 89 (ICRP, 2002) on the reference anatomical and physiological parameters for both male and female subjects. The reference phantoms are constructed after modifying the voxel models (Golem and Laura) of two individuals whose body height and mass resembled the reference data. The organ masses of both models were adjusted to the ICRP data on the adult Reference Male and Reference Female, without compromising their anatomic realism. This report describes the methods used for this process and the characteristics of the resulting computational phantoms.

In the aftermath of an attack, the main aim of radiological protection must be to prevent the occurrence of acute health effects attributable to radiation exposure (termed 'deterministic' effects) and to restrict the likelihood of late health effects (termed 'stochastic' effects) such as cancers and some hereditable diseases. A supplementary aim is to minimise environmental contamination from radioactive residues and the subsequent general disruption of daily life. The report notes that action taken to avert exposures is a much more effective protective measure than protective measure the provision of medical treatment after exposure has occurred. Responders involved in recovery, remediation and eventual restoration should be subject to the usual international standards for occupational radiological protection, which are based on ICRP recommendations, including the relevant requirements for occupational dose limitation established in such standards. These restrictions may be relaxed for informed volunteers undertaking urgent rescue operations, and they are not applicable for voluntary life-saving actions. However, specific protection measures are recommended for female workers who may be pregnant or nursing an infant.

With digital techniques exist the potential to improve the practice of radiology but also the risk to overuse radiation. The main advantages of digital imaging: wide dynamic range, post-processing, multiple viewing options, electronic transfer and archiving possibilities are clear but overexposures can occur without an adverse impact on image quality. In conventional radiography, excessive exposure produces a "black" film. In digital systems, good images are obtained for a large range of doses. With digital fluoroscopy systems it is very easy to obtain (and delete) images. There may be a tendency to obtain more images than necessary. In digital radiology, higher patient dose usually means improved image quality and thus a tendency to use higher patient doses than necessary could occur. Different medical imaging tasks require different levels of image quality and doses which have no additional benefit for the clinical purpose shall be avoided. Image quality can be compromised by inappropriate levels of data compression and/or post-processing techniques and all these new challenges should be part of the optimization process and included in the clinical and technical protocols. Local diagnostic reference levels should be reevaluated for digital imaging and patient dose parameters should be displayed at the operator console. Frequent patient dose audits should occur when digital techniques are introduced. Training in managing image quality and patient dose in digital radiology is necessary. Digital radiology will involve new regulations and invoke new challenges for practitioners. As digital-radiology images are easier to obtain and to transmit the justification criteria should bereinforced. Commissioning of digital systems should involve clinical specialists, medical physicists and radiographers to ensure that imaging capability and radiation dose management are integrated. Quality control requires new procedures and protocols (visualization, transmission and archiving of the images).

Educational slides have been developed by the ICRP to accompany this report, and are available free of charge from the society's website - http: //www.icrp.org/educational_area.asp

The purpose of ICRP 72 is to summarise data on age dependent committed effective dose coefficients for members of the public from intakes by ingestion and inhalation of radioisotopes of the 91 elements described in ICRP Publications 56, 67, 68, 69 and 71. These dose coefficients have been adopted in the International Atomic Energy Agency in their publication on International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionising Radiation, and in the Euratom Directive. The report does not give committed equivalent dose coefficients to tissues and organs. The report will be useful to operational health physicists and to regulatory and advisory bodies responsible for radiation protection.

This part gives metabolic data for 30 further elements, including Annual Limits on Intakes (ALI's) for their isotopes. The data given in this report are intended to be used together with the text and dosimetric models described in ICRP Publication 30, Part 1.

The first of a series of reports recommending Annual Limits for Intakes (ALI's) of radionuclides by workers. This report includes the main text for the whole series of Publication 30, and data on twenty one elements having radioisotopes that are of considerable importance in radiological protection. The actual ALI values in ICRP Publication 30 have become obsolete with the newer dosimetry and dose limits of ICRP Publication 60, and at present the dose coefficients in ICRP Publications 68, 69, 71, and 72 should be used to determine ALI's. However, the vast body of biokinetic information in Publication 30 still forms the basis of much of the calculations underlying those later reports.

The document attempts a wide-ranging comparative survey of scientific reports on high-LET mutagenesis. It considers the implication of this data for radiological protection. It includes information on the effects of high and low doses administered at high and low dose rates. The distinction between high- and low-LET radiation is also discussed.