The need to review low-dose decision-making in radiation protection

The current approach in the system of protection, and the way in which it is implemented in
regulation and practical application, has resulted in the allocation of significant and
disproportionate societal resources to reduce relatively low-level exposures to even lower levels.
The resulting exposure levels are often a fraction of the basic natural background level, and in
particular are comparable to, or often significantly less than, the variability of natural
background exposures due to individual decision-making, which the system of protection deems
acceptable. There are arguments for a wider approach to decision-making at such low doses,
recognising the uncertainties in radiation risk estimation and acknowledging the context that all
human life takes place in a variable natural background radiation which generally dominates these
lower dose exposures. Recommendations are presented for improvements in how decisions are made in
controlling low doses.

Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - January 12, 2022 Category: Physics Authors: Roger Coates Source Type: research