Protection of the Environment in the Perspective of Human Health

Abstract

An increase in the natural radiation background, development of nuclear power engineering, severe radiation accidents with the release of radionuclides into the environment, the need for the remediation of areas affected by previous human activity, all make the problem of environmental protection against radiation extremely urgent. The problems of radiation protection of biota can be solved in two ways: (1) through the system of basic principles of ICRP according to which if the radiation standards protect man, biota are also protected against ionising radiation; (2) at the same time, in recent years increasing in popularity, is the viewpoint according to which the analysis of radiation protection of man and biota must be independent. A viewpoint is suggested that radiation protection of man and biota need to be based on a unified system of conceptual representations ensuring the simultaneous radiation safety of man and living organisms as connected components of ecosystems.