Abstract

The radiation protection system is founded upon the three principles of radiation protection, which are justification, optimisation and application of dose limits. Dose limits are defined for planned exposure situations and are set in relation to occupational exposures or the exposure of the population. As the current dose limit values have already been applied for 30 years, the Federal Ministry for the Environment mandated the Commission on Radiological Protection (SSK) to address the basic principles of determining radiation dose limits and dose constraints on March 19 in 2014. To process this mandate, the SSK first published the recommendation "Basic principles of determining dose limits for occupationally exposed persons" in 2018.

In a second step, the basic principles of determining radiation exposure limits for the general public should be considered. The respective working group, which was set up for this purpose, began its advisory activities in 2019 and summarised the principles of determining radiation exposure limits for the general public in a statement and compared these principles with those for protecting the population against cancer risks from chemical genotoxic carcinogens.

The consultations focused on the effective dose limits. The main principles covered relate to

• the meaning of dose limits within the radiation protection system
• natural radiation exposure and its variability
• anthropogenic radiation exposure
• mechanisms of action of biological radiation exposure
• risks of developing cancer and specifically thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure
• the protection system for chemical genotoxic substances.