Fit for purpose: German contributions to the new ICRP recommendations

Abstract The current international radiation protection system is based on the International Commission on Radiological Protection's (ICRP) policy proposal, Publication 103, issued in 2007. Recently, the ICRP has announced its goal to extend the discussion on radiation protection issues beyond the inner bodies, to engage the worldwide radiation protection community. A key step in this direction was the digital workshop "The Future of Radiological Protection" in October 2021 which initiated an in-depth international, scientific debate on the future design of the radiation protection systems. To contribute to this international debate, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV (now BMUKN)) and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) in Germany hosted a workshop in Munich in November 2024, bringing together national and international experts to assess and prioritise key topics relevant to the future of radiological protection from a German perspective. The primary aim of the Munich workshop was to exchange scientific and regulatory perspectives in Germany, particularly with regard to the ICRP's “Fit for Purpose” process. Critical topics such as the revision of the justification principle, the refinement of the key criteria for radiation-related risk assessment and impact assessment were central themes of the discussions. This article presents the most important topics and recommendations discussed related to radiation detriment, dose coefficients, societal aspects, non-human biota, impact assessment, radiological emergencies and malicious events as well as the justification and optimisation of medical radiation applications.