Incorporating the 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection into the J-value analysis of nuclear safety systems

Abstract

The newly released findings by the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) led to a review of the lifetime risk coefficients for fatal cancer used in J-value analysis of nuclear safety systems. The change in life expectancy a safety system brings about by averting a radiation exposure needs to be estimated in order to calculate the safety system's J-value, and this is done following the ICRP's practice of using risk coefficients that are uniform across both genders and all ages in the defined population group (either workers or the general population). The ICRP predicted uniformly lower radiation risks in 2007 than in 1990 on a like-for-like basis, but it was found that the ICRP's new risk coefficients needed to be multiplied by a compensating factor specific to each population when used in calculating the radiation-induced change in life expectancy. Incorporating the new compensating factor leads to a decrease in the J-value calculated of about 5% for workers and 15% for the general population compared with earlier, reported results. These adjustments are not large compared with the uncertainties associated with radiation harm and the economics of installing a safety system, but will strengthen slightly the case for spending on a nuclear safety measure.