Essentials of the system of radiological protection

Werner Rühm; Kimberly Applegate; Nobuhiko Ban; Francois Bochud; Simon Bouffler; Kun Woo Cho; Chris Clement; Eduardo Gallego; Olga German; Gillian Hirth; Makoto Hosono; Michiaki Kai; Dominique Laurier; Senlin Liu; Nicole E. Martinez; Sergey Romanov; Thierry Schneider; David G. Sutton; Andrzej Wojcik

doi:10.1088/1361-6498/ae02a2

Essentials of the system of radiological protection

Werner Rühm
, Kimberly Applegate
, Nobuhiko Ban
, Francois Bochud
, Simon Bouffler
, Kun Woo Cho
, Chris Clement
, Eduardo Gallego
, Olga German
, Gillian Hirth
, Makoto Hosono
, Michiaki Kai
, Dominique Laurier
, Senlin Liu
, Nicole E. Martinez
, Sergey Romanov
, Thierry Schneider
, David G. Sutton
, Andrzej Wojcik

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

117 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The system of radiological protection (the ‘System’) developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is built on nearly a century of efforts of numerous scientists and practitioners working together internationally. It rests on three enduring pillars: science, ethics, and experience. These pillars support the three fundamental principles that shape radiological protection strategies: justification, optimisation, and application of dose limits. Of note, optimisation of protection must be understood as a flexible and context-sensitive process, which allows identification of the appropriate level of protection, not simply the lowest dose, taking into account economic, societal and environmental factors. The System has proven effective in protecting workers, patients, members of the public, and the environment in all exposure situations. Effects of high doses, where acute injuries to healthy tissue occur, are rarely observed, and mostly due to accidental situations except for unavoidable side effects of radiotherapy. At low doses, the System is supported by application of the linear-no-threshold model. This model enables prudent (that is, carefully considered given existing uncertainties) policy decisions and estimation of risks at low doses by extrapolation from epidemiological data observed at medium and high radiation doses, acknowledging uncertainty without ignoring potential harm.

Original language	English
Article number	033002
Journal	Journal of Radiological Protection
Volume	45
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ae02a2
Publication status	Published - 15 Sept 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

ICRP
LNT
system of radiological protection

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Waste Management and Disposal
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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10.1088/1361-6498/ae02a2Licence: CC BY

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Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Final published version, 350 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Rühm, W., Applegate, K., Ban, N., Bochud, F., Bouffler, S., Cho, K. W., Clement, C., Gallego, E., German, O., Hirth, G., Hosono, M., Kai, M., Laurier, D., Liu, S., Martinez, N. E., Romanov, S., Schneider, T., Sutton, D. G., & Wojcik, A. (2025). Essentials of the system of radiological protection. Journal of Radiological Protection, 45(3), Article 033002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ae02a2

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abstract = "The system of radiological protection (the {\textquoteleft}System{\textquoteright}) developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is built on nearly a century of efforts of numerous scientists and practitioners working together internationally. It rests on three enduring pillars: science, ethics, and experience. These pillars support the three fundamental principles that shape radiological protection strategies: justification, optimisation, and application of dose limits. Of note, optimisation of protection must be understood as a flexible and context-sensitive process, which allows identification of the appropriate level of protection, not simply the lowest dose, taking into account economic, societal and environmental factors. The System has proven effective in protecting workers, patients, members of the public, and the environment in all exposure situations. Effects of high doses, where acute injuries to healthy tissue occur, are rarely observed, and mostly due to accidental situations except for unavoidable side effects of radiotherapy. At low doses, the System is supported by application of the linear-no-threshold model. This model enables prudent (that is, carefully considered given existing uncertainties) policy decisions and estimation of risks at low doses by extrapolation from epidemiological data observed at medium and high radiation doses, acknowledging uncertainty without ignoring potential harm.",

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author = "Werner R{\"u}hm and Kimberly Applegate and Nobuhiko Ban and Francois Bochud and Simon Bouffler and Cho, \{Kun Woo\} and Chris Clement and Eduardo Gallego and Olga German and Gillian Hirth and Makoto Hosono and Michiaki Kai and Dominique Laurier and Senlin Liu and Martinez, \{Nicole E.\} and Sergey Romanov and Thierry Schneider and Sutton, \{David G.\} and Andrzej Wojcik",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Published on behalf of the Society for Radiological Protection by IOP Publishing Ltd.",

year = "2025",

month = sep,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1088/1361-6498/ae02a2",

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Rühm, W, Applegate, K, Ban, N, Bochud, F, Bouffler, S, Cho, KW, Clement, C, Gallego, E, German, O, Hirth, G, Hosono, M, Kai, M, Laurier, D, Liu, S, Martinez, NE, Romanov, S, Schneider, T, Sutton, DG & Wojcik, A 2025, 'Essentials of the system of radiological protection', Journal of Radiological Protection, vol. 45, no. 3, 033002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ae02a2

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AU - Clement, Chris

AU - Gallego, Eduardo

AU - German, Olga

AU - Hirth, Gillian

AU - Hosono, Makoto

AU - Kai, Michiaki

AU - Laurier, Dominique

AU - Liu, Senlin

AU - Martinez, Nicole E.

AU - Romanov, Sergey

AU - Schneider, Thierry

AU - Sutton, David G.

AU - Wojcik, Andrzej

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ER -

Essentials of the system of radiological protection

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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