7The Radiation Protection Principle

7 The Radiation Protection Principle

The Radiation Protection Principle is the principle that persons and the environment should be protected from unnecessary exposure to radiation through the processes of justification, limitation and optimisation where—

(a) justification involves assessing whether the benefits of a radiation practice or the use of a radiation source outweigh the detriment;

(b) limitation involves setting radiation dose limits, or imposing other measures, so that the health risks to any person or the risk to the environment exposed to radiation are below levels considered unacceptable;

(c) optimisation—

(i) in relation to the conduct of a radiation practice, or the use of a radiation source, that may expose a person or the environment to ionising radiation, means keeping—

(A) the magnitude of individual doses of, or the number of people that may be exposed to, ionising radiation; or

(B) if the magnitude of individual doses, or the number of people that may be exposed, is uncertain, the likelihood of incurring exposures of ionising radiation—

as low as reasonably achievable taking into account economic, social and environmental factors;

(ii) in relation to the conduct of a radiation practice, or the use of a radiation source, that may expose a person or the environment to non-ionising radiation, equates to cost-effectiveness.