Comment regarding the proposal to use the precautionary principle ===================================================== The proposal to use "the precautionary principle" fills no new function as it has been integrated into the ICRP radioprotection philosophy since at least 1977. It is just that the precautionary principle has a different name: ALARA = As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ICRP Publication 26). Justification is another side of the issue. What is important is what is meant by “precautionary” approaches - there is not one "precautionary principle". ALARA has been explained in much better detail than a general “precautionary principle” (remember that unwarranted precaution may result in alternatives which in turn can cause unnecessary damage, disease and/or deaths if interpreted in its most extreme sense). My personal ideas only, Bjorn Cedervall, Associate professor (Medical Radiation Biology) Home address: Frejgatan 46A 4tr, SE-113 26 Stockholm, Sweden