Principles of radiation protection and safety

Radiation protection and safety activities shall be based on the following fundamental principles– (a) the justification principle, that is to say, the activity or practice must produce sufficient benefit to exposed persons or to society in a manner that offsets the detriment or harm that it may cause, taking into account social, economic and other relevant factors; (b) the optimization principle, that is to say, in relation to radiation exposures from any activity or practice, radiation protection measures should ensure that doses, the number of persons exposed and the likelihood of incurring exposure are at all times kept as low as reasonably achievable, taking into account social and economic factors; and (c) the dose limitation principle, that is to say, activities and practices shall be conducted in a manner that ensures that the total dose that a person may experience does not exceed any prescribed dose limit, so that no person is subject to an unacceptable risk attributable to radiation exposure.