Radiological Protection Criteria for the Natural Environment

There has never been an internationally agreed set of criteria for the protection of the natural environment from the effects of ionising radiation. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which might be that such a set of criteria has not in the past been considered necessary. But there is now an increasing demand to demonstrate that adequate steps are being taken _ or could be taken _ to protect the environment for its own sake from all forms of human activity, and this includes the disposal of radioactive wastes. This paper therefore explores some of the criteria that might be considered within an overall theoretical framework, what is still required to achieve them, and what practical constraints there might be if such criteria were to be adopted and put into practice. Such a scientifically based approach, it is argued, is preferable to the simple adoption of beliefs designed to meet completely different criteria.