[ RadSafe ] evacuation: where and how long?

[Andrew McEwan]

Part of the problem is the ICRP advocacy of ALARA, the confusion between
constraints for planned exposures and reference levels for existing
exposures, and the guidance in ICRP Publication 111 (International
Commission on Radiological Protection. 2009 Application of the commission's
recommendations to the protection of people living in long-term contaminated
areas after a nuclear accident or a radiation emergency ICRP Publication
111; Ann. ICRP 39 (3) (Amsterdam: Elsevier))
that exposures should be reduced where possible to below 1 mSv/year. Clearly
where exposures cannot reasonably be reduced to what are perceived as 'safe'
levels, and these levels are set by 'experts', there is a high degree of
unnecessary anxiety.

Some of the problems with the guidance of ICRP 111 and ICRP 103 with regard
to setting reference levels are discussed in a just published paper in the
Journal of Radiological Protection (Is ICRP guidance on the use of reference
levels consistent?)

stacks.iop.org/JRP/31/431

Andrew McEwan