Icrp Publication 152: Radiation Detriment Calculation Methodology

Radiation detriment is a concept developed by the International Commission
on Radiological Protection to quantify the burden of stochastic effects from lowdose
and/or low-dose-rate exposures to the human population. It is determined from
the lifetime risks of cancer for a set of organs and tissues and the risk of heritable
effects, taking into account the severity of the consequences. This publication provides
a historical review of detriment calculation methodology since ICRP
Publication 26, with details of the procedure developed in ICRP Publication 103,
which clarifies data sources, risk models, computational methods, and rationale for
the choice of parameter values. A selected sensitivity analysis was conducted to
identify the parameters and calculation conditions that can be major sources of
variation and uncertainty in the calculation of radiation detriment. It has demonstrated
that sex, age at exposure, dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor, dose
assumption in the calculation of lifetime risk, and lethality fraction have a substantial
impact on radiation detriment values. Although the current scheme of radiation
detriment calculation is well established, it needs to evolve to better reflect changes in
population health statistics and progress in scientific understanding of radiation
health effects. In this regard, some key parameters require updating, such as the
reference population data and cancer severity. There is also room for improvement
in cancer risk models based on the accumulation of recent epidemiological findings.
Finally, the importance of improving the comprehensibility of the detriment concept
and the transparency of its calculation process is emphasised.