ICRP Publication 60

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The International Commission on Radiological Protection published its initially general recommendation for radiological protection in 1928. Further recommendations adapted to the latest information followed in 1959 and 1966. Since 1977, when the ICRP published its fundamental recommendations as ICRP Publication 26, the ICRP has checked these recommendations annually and published supplementary comments from time to time in the annals of the ICRP. The development in recent years required publication of a completely new version of the recommendations in the form of ICRP Publication 60 of 1991. The ICRP therefore pursues the following targets:

• to take account of new biological findings and development for the specification of safety standards,

• to improve the representation of the recommendations,

• to maintain consistency in the recommendations, as far as compatible with new findings.

The ICRP intends the ICRP Publication 60 to be an aid for legislators, authorities and consultants on a national and international level by explaining the essential principles on which adequate radiation protection can be based. Due to the different situations in the various countries, the commission did not intend to submit a draft law. The authorities are to develop their own structures for legislation, ordinances, permits and binding regulations. In addition the ICRP hopes that the report will assist operators with responsibility in radiological protection, and also for individual persons, e.g. radiologists who are required to decide about the application of ionizing radiation themselves. The essential contents of this ICRP recommendation had been adopted in the Euratom (see 'Euratom') basic standards recommendation on radiological protection passed in May 1996 and in the German Radiological Protection Ordinance.

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