History of radiation detriment and its calculation methodology used in ICRP Publication 103

Abstract

Over the past decades, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has used radiation detriment, which is a multidimensional concept to quantify the overall harm to health from stochastic effects of low-level radiation exposure of different parts of the body. The tissue-specific detriment is determined from the nominal tissue-specific risk coefficient, weighted by the severity of the disease in terms of lethality, impact on quality of life and years of life lost. Total detriment is the sum of the detriments for separate tissues and organs. Tissue specific detriment values are used to determine tissue weighting factors for the calculation of effective dose. Calculating radiation detriment is a complex process that requires information from various sources and judgements on how to achieve calculations. As such, it is important to document its calculation methodology. To improve the traceability of calculations and form a solid basis for future recommendations, the ICRP Task Group 102 on detriment calculation methodology was established in 2016. It has reviewed the history of radiation detriment and the process of detriment calculation. This article summarizes the work of this Task Group and aims at clarifying the process of detriment calculation currently used by the ICRP.

Designing an Indoor Radon Risk Exposure Indicator (IRREI): An Evaluation Tool for Risk Management and Communication in the IoT Age

“…Based on this, ICRP Publication 103 [69,70] recommends that any Radon exposure should be reduced to as low as reasonably possible below the reference level, whereas previous recommendations only focused on exposures above the action level. The document also defines three Radon exposure situations which were defined as follows: the planned exposure refers to situations involving the deliberate introduction and operation of sources where radiological protection can be planned, the emergency exposure regards situations that may occur during the operation of a planned situation, or from a malicious act, or any other unexpected situation, and require urgent action to avoid or reduce undesirable consequences, and existing exposure derives from situations that already exist when a control decision has to be taken, including prolonged exposure situations after emergencies.…”

Do we really need the “detriment” for radiation protection?

“…Thus, the way chosen by ICRP 103 (ICRP 2007) indicates some subjective components and means a certain assessment regarding the relevance or significance of radiation damage (Cléro et al 2019). The ICRP detriment model represents one possible, but not the only possible measure of a damage-weighted risk.…”

“…The detriment defined by the ICRP in this way is the product of the probability of occurrence for a stochastic effect per dose, i.e., the nominal risk coefficient, and the degree of the effect’s severity (ICRP 2007 ; Cléro et al 2019 ). While the risk coefficient depends on a variety of radiation-related parameters, the degree of severity does not.…”

“…This is even more remarkable because both, the way of including the radiation damage and the choice of values for the “damage parameters” (lethality, loss of life expectancy, and reduction of quality of life) can be done very differently. Thus, the way chosen by ICRP 103 (ICRP 2007 ) indicates some subjective components and means a certain assessment regarding the relevance or significance of radiation damage (Cléro et al 2019 ). The ICRP detriment model represents one possible, but not the only possible measure of a damage-weighted risk.…”

Fundamental characteristics and application of radiation

“…Because such radiation expands as it passes through space, and as its energy is conserved (in vacuum), the intensity of all types of radiation from a point source follows an inverse-square law in relation to the distance from its source. Like any ideal law, the inverse-square law approximates measured radiation intensity to the extent that the source approximates a geometric point [3].…”