ICRP RECOMMENDATIONS APPLICABLE TO THE MINING AND MINERALS PROCESSING INDUSTRIES AND TO NATURAL SOURCES

The current views of the International Commission on Radiological Protection on exposure to natural radiation are presented in the new recommendations (ICRP Publication 60) where the concepts of practice and intervention are both used to establish mechanisms of control. The history of the present recommendations is reviewed, and the latest guidance on the control of Rn-222 at home and at work (ICRP Publication 65) is outlined. The new model of the respiratory tract, which has been adopted by ICRP, is discussed in the context of its predictions of the doses from radon acid from particulate natural radionuclides. Consideration is given finally to criteria for the restoration of sites previously contaminated by natural radionuclides.