The International Commission on Radiological Protection has given general guidance on the precautions to be taken in the storage, handling and disposal of unsealed radioactive material in hospitals and medical research establishments in ICRP Publication 5. The present publication replaces the previous recommendations of the Commission given in ICRP Publication 5 and is primarily directed towards the competent national authorities. By utilizing the practices outlined in the present report, it should be possible to keep radiation doses well below the maximum permissible levels recommended by...

ICRP Publication 26 summarized the recommended basic system of dose limitation into three interrelated components, abbreviated as:

(i) The justification of the practice.
(ii) The optimization of radiation protection.
(iii) The limits of the individual dos equivalent.

This report is concerned primarily with the second of these components of te system of dose limitation, the optimization of radiation protection, and with the rationale and techniques to establish what is reasonably achievable in the control of radiation exposures. A wide range of techniques...

In Establishments for medical diagnosis, treatment and research, widespread use is made of ionizing radiations from x-ray and other machines and from radionuclides. This report discusses the protection measures applicable to workers involved either directly or indirectly in such uses; in particular, it deals with the protection measures applicable to radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, medical physicists, radiographers, scientists, technicians, radiopharmacists, engineers, nurses and others (such are cardiologists and orthopaedic surgeons), when their work...

The International Commission on Radiological Protection issued its last basic recommendations in 1977. The recommendations have been used widely throughout the world to limit exposure of both radiation workers and members of the public to ionising radiations. Supplementary statements to the 1977 recommendations were issued when necessary by the Commission, but developments in the last few years have made it necessary to issue a completely new set of recommendations, officially adopted in November 1990. In publishing these recommendations, the Commission has had three aims in mind: to take...

This report describes a revision of the model used in ICRP Publication 30 to calculate radiation doses to the respiratory tract of workers resulting from the intake of airborne radionuclides. This revision was motivated by the availability of increased knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory tract and of the deposition, clearance, and biological effects of inhaled radioactive particles, and by greatly expanded dosimetry requirements. To meet fully the needs of radiation protection, a dosimetric model for the respiratory tract should: provide calculations of doses for...

ICRP Publication 74 provides an extensive and authoritative set of data linking the operational quantities defined by ICRU with the dosimetric and protection quantities defined by ICRP. The operational quantities provide a satisfactory basis for most of the measurements for radiation protection against external radiations. In those cases where it is not so, the data given in the report provides a basis for designing special measurement programmes, properly interpreting their results and relating them to the protection quantities. The report should be useful to operational health physicists,...

ICRP Publication 78 replaces the previous ICRP Publication 54 on individual monitoring programmes and the interpretation of results of measurements for intakes of radionuclides by workers. The updating was considered necessary because ICRP published new dose coefficients for intakes of radionuclides by workers in 1994 (ICRP Publication 68). Those new dose coefficients were based on the most recent general recommendations of the Commission (ICRP Publication 60). The present report uses this new information and takes account of the new principles for the radiological protection of workers...

Interventional radiology (fluoroscopically-guided) techniques are being used by an increasing number of clinicians not adequately trained in radiation safety or radiobiology. Many of these interventionists are not aware of the potential for injury from these procedures or the simple methods for decreasing their incidence. Many patients are not being counselled on the radiation risks, nor followed up when radiation doses from difficult procedures may lead to injury. Some patients are suffering radiation-induced skin injuries and younger patients may face an increased risk of future cancer....

This publication aims to assist in the prevention of accidental exposures involving patients undergoing treatment from external beam or solid brachytherapy sources. It does not directly deal with therapy involving unsealed sources. The document is addressed to a diverse audience of professionals directly involved in radiotherapy procedures, hospital administrators, and health and regulatory authorities. The approach adopted is to describe illustrative severe accidents, discuss the causes of these events and contributory factors, summarise the sometimes devastating consequences of these...

In its Publications 56, 67, 69, 71, and 72, ICRP has provided age-specific biokinetic models and, using those models, compiled dose coefficients (doses per unit intake) for intakes of radionuclides by members of the public. Committed effective doses for the inhalation or ingestion of radionuclides by workers who are occupationally exposed were given in Publication 68 based on the most recent dosimetric and biokinetic models for adults.

The present report complements that series by addressing doses to the embryo/fetus after intakes of radionuclides by a female member of the public...