ICRP Publication 103: Recommendations of the ICRP

There has been considerable discussion over several years, via the ICRP web site and at national and international meetings, of earlier draft versions of this report. The effectiveness of these interactions is seen in the considerable changes that have taken place in the evolving drafts. The radiation protection community worldwide has called for stability in the recommendations. A number of international organisations, particularly the American Health Physics Society, opposed some of the original intentions to make significant changes in the radiation protection philosophy that early versions contained. This engagement of stakeholders is to be applauded. It represents a dramatic change in the ICRP's approach in recent years. There was, for example, no prior engagement at all when the recommendations in 1977 were published (ICRP Publication 26) and the wishes of the radiation protection community when the 1990 recommendations were formulated (ICRP Publication 60(1)) were largely ignored—particularly...