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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on regulatory issues and options for potential changes to the agency's radiation protection regulations, to achieve greater alignment between the regulations and the 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The NRC believes that the agency's current regulations continue to provide adequate protection of health and safety of workers, the public and the environment. The ICRP recommendations, contained in ICRP Publication 103, propose measures that go beyond what is needed to provide adequate protection. In a Staff Requirements Memorandum dated April 2, the Commission directed the staff to engage stakeholders and interested parties on the benefits and burdens of any potential regulatory changes based on the ICRP recommendations.

On December 18, 2008, the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) submitted a Policy Issue Notation Vote Commission Paper, SECY-08-0197, requesting approval to revise the agency's radiation protection regulations and guidance to achieve greater alignment with the 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP Publication 103). [The NRC's Synopsis of ICRP Publication 103, which is available through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), discusses the broad implications of the new recommendations.] Specifically, the revisions proposed to achieve alignment would affect the regulatory framework provided by Title 10, Part 20, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 20), "Standards for Protection Against Radiation"; 10 CFR Part 50, "Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities"; and Appendix I to 10 CFR Part 50, "Numerical Guides for Design Objectives and Limiting Conditions for Operation to Meet the Criterion 'As Low as is Reasonably Achievable' for Radioactive Material in Light-Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Reactor Effluents." The Commission subsequently accepted the staff's recommendation through the related Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM-SECY-08-0197), dated April 2, 2009, instructing the staff to immediately begin engagement with stakeholders and interested parties to initiate development of the technical basis for possible revision of the NRC's radiation protection regulations, as appropriate and where scientifically justified, to achieve greater alignment with the 2007 ICRP recommendations. In addition, the staff will seek to identify the scope of any warranted conforming changes in other parts of the 10 CFR regulations.

"The levels of radiation accumulated in soil near the crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan far exceeded the level of radiation the then-Soviet Union had used as a criterion for urging people to evacuate at the time of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, threatening to plague local residents for a lengthy period. Using aircraft, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology checked the cesium-137 (half life of about 30 years) and cesium-134 (half life of about two years) accumulated in soil in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy in April. Cesium-137 that has longer effects, ranging from 3 million to 14.7 million becquerels per square meter, was detected in Namie, Futaba, Minamisoma, Iitate and Katsurao, northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, in Fukushima Prefecture. The levels far exceeded 550,000 bacquerels per square meter, the level the then-Soviet Union had used as a criterion for urging people to evacuate at the time of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Based on recommendations from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the Japanese government used 20 millisieverts per year of radiation in the atmosphere as the criterion to designate evacuation areas in the wake of the nuclear accident in Fukushima. Therefore, there are areas that have not been designated as evacuation zones although they have larger amounts of accumulated radiation. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology says, "Radioactive substances in soil do not enter human bodies immediately." On the other hand, when authorities try to decide whether to allow local residents to return to their homes or resume farming, levels of soil contamination could be one of the hot topics of debate."