D. Laurier and T. Schneider: Radioprotection 2025, 60( 1), 4 – 8 5
Evaluation Centre( CEPN) and ICRP, and gathered more than 100 participants, onsite and online. The aim was to provide an opportunity to present recent developments at ICRP and to exchange views and experience with representatives of the French radiological protection community about the revision of the System of radiological protection.
2 What was presented during this workshop?
A welcome address was presented jointly by the three organisers, Jean-Christophe Niel as Director General of IRSN, Werner Rühm as Chair of ICRP, and Thierry Schneider as Director of CEPN.
Session 1 provided a detailed overview on the organisation and status of ICRP by Christopher Clement( ICRP Scientific Secretary & Chief Executive Officer), a summary of the missions and activities of ICRP by Simon Bouffler( ICRP Vice- Chair), and a perspective on the future of Radiological Protection by Werner Rühm( ICRP Chair).
Session 2 provided an overview on the ongoing work of ICRP on effects and doses. Consideration of radiation effects in the System was presented by Dominique Laurier( ICRP MC and C1 Chair) with a focus on Task Group( TG) 123“ Classification of Harmful Radiation-induced Effects on Human Health for Radiological Protection Purposes” by Ludovic Vaillant( ICRP C1 and TG Chair), and external and internal dosimetry in the System was presented by François Bochud( ICRP MC and C2 Chair) with a focus on TG95“ Internal Dose Coefficients” by François Paquet( ICRP C2 Vice-Chair and TG Chair).
Session 3 provided an overview of the ongoing work of ICRP on the application of the System. The System of protection in medical activities was presented by Aurélie Isambert( ICRP C3) and Kimberly Applegate( ICRP MC and C3 Chair) with a focus on TG126“ Radiological Protection in Human Biomedical Research” by Isabelle Thierry-Chef( ICRP C3 and TG Chair). The application of ICRP Recommendations was presented by Thierry Schneider( ICRP MC and C4 Chair) with a focus on TG127“ Exposure Situations and Categories of Exposure” by Yann Billarand( ICRP C4 and TG Chair). A specific presentation was given on radiological protection of the environment, with a focus on TG99“ Reference Animal and Plant( RAP) Monographs” by Christelle Adam-Guillermin( ICRP C1 and TG Co-Chair) & Jacqueline Garnier-Laplace( ICRP C4 Secretary and TG Chair).
3 What was discussed during this workshop?
Two panel discussions were organised on the effects and doses and on the application of the System, with interventions from representatives of the national agency for the management of radioactive wastes( ANDRA, Elisabeth Leclerc), the national association of local information committees and commissions( ANCCLI, Yves Lheureux), the French nuclear safety authority( ASN, Géraldine Pina), the French alternative energies and atomic energy commission( CEA, Laurence Lebaron-Jacobs), IRSN( Jean-Christophe Gariel), the French society of radiology( SFR, Marie-France Bellin) and the French radiation protection society( SFRP, Patrick Devin).
The discussions were constructive and lively. The major topics of discussion are summarized below: – Keep the System stable: Several panellists insisted on the importance of keeping the System stable and practicable. Stability and simplicity of implementation were considered necessary for good operational application of the System. For the users, the System should be practicable and understandable. The maintenance of the Linear-No- Threshold( LNT) model as a key basis of the System( Laurier et al., 2023; Bertho and Bourguignon, 2023) was presented as one example of stability. In this perspective, the potential use of new indicators of risk, such as disability-adjusted life years( DALYs) for detriment( Vaillant et al., 2023) or quality-adjusted life years( QALY) for medical interventions( MacKillop and Sheard, 2018) should be assessed.
– Clarify priorities: The process to update the general recommendations has led to the launching of more than 30 ICRP Task Groups. In addition, some cross-sectional issues are considered in parallel, such as the contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals( SDGs) of the United Nations( Rühm et al., 2024), and the consideration of uncertainties. The identification of a few main overarching goals would help in clarifying the ongoing works and their expected impact on the System.
– Coordinate with other radiological protection actors: Some discrepancies were noted between ICRP and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation( UNSCEAR) in recent years( for example, on cataract formation, radon dose coefficients, etc.). Improved coordination of actions and positions with other international organisations, such as the UNSCEAR, the World Health Organization( WHO), the Nuclear Energy Agency( NEA), the International Atomic Energy Agency( IAEA) and the International Radiation Protection Association( IRPA), should help the transposition of the recommendations in international and national regulation and in the practices of radiation protection.
– Better explain the meaning of dose limit for the public: Dose limits and dose reference levels are not always well understood by the public, which may create confusion. This applies to different exposure situations including very long-term specificity of radioactive waste disposals. In this context, better explanation and clarification on the role and domain of application of dose limits and reference levels, including the comparison with various exposure levels or comparison of radiation-related risks with the risks related to other stressors may be worthwhile.
– Improve the consideration of uncertainties: Uncertainties remain about radiation-related health effects in the low dose range. Lack of certainty also exists in the elaboration of scenarios for future health risks and potential exposures. Sources and magnitude of uncertainties should be better considered in ICRP work, without making the System more complex( Clarke, 1999).
– Develop flexibility: Flexibility could help to better address the various exposure situations and allow the application of the System everywhere. The interest of introducing