SPG ICRP Gen Recs
Strategic Planning Group on the ICRP General Recommendations

Under Main Commission

Strategic Planning Group on the ICRP General Recommendations

With the publication of the ‘Fit for purpose’ paper in 2021, ICRP has committed to reviewing the current system of radiological protection with a view to issuing a new set of general recommendations (updating ICRP103) around 2030. To date, this work has involved the consideration of the areas of underpinning science, ethics and practice where there is new information to take into account and the establishment of Task Groups to conduct such work. This approach addresses the so called ‘building blocks’ for the proposed updated general recommendations but does not take a holistic view of how these will be structured and assembled. The Main Commission established a Working Party to start to address these issues in 2024. With significant progress being made with the ‘building blocks’ and considering a large number of ICRP Publications since 2023, it is timely to address the bigger issue of drafting the new General Recommendations themselves. Therefore, a Strategic Planning Group is established to guide and coodinate the drafting of the General Recommendations to ensure coherence, consistency and accuracy of the document that is foundational for ICRP and radiological protection internationally.

Mandate

The main areas that the Strategic Planning Group will have responsibility for include, inter alia:

  • Defining the structure of the new General Recommendations publication, including the consideration of alignment with the outcomes of the Working Party on Next General Recommendations and the outcomes of the Working Party on Sustainable Development.
  • The Group will use the annotated Table of Content ICRP ref 4898-8435-0063 as a starting point for the work on the report.
  • Allocation of specific writers for each section of the proposed publication as well as participation in text drafting of specific chapters.
  • Appropriate consideration of potentially substantial changes to the proposed new general recommendations, inform the Main Commission so that they can be discussed and proposals for adjustments made to relevant Task Groups and Working Parties.
  • Establishing and monitoring the timeline for the development and publication of the ICRP General Recommendations for consideration/agreement by the Main Commission and stakeholders.
  • Take into account and discuss feedback from stakeholders, and assessment of the likely impact of a new General Recommendations publication on practical aspects of delivering effective radiological protection.

Process

The Strategic Planning Group will hold regular meetings, largely by web-conference to deliberate on the relevant issues and guide the drafting of the new General Recommendations publication suitable for publication in the Annals of ICRP on behalf of the Main Commission. The Strategic Planning Group will keep abreast of developments of the work of all relevant ICRP Task Groups. It is expected that a dedicated half-day session will be set aside in Main Commission meetings to allow detailed discussion of progress with the drafting of the new General Recommendations as guided by the Strategic Planning Group.

The Strategic Planning Group may convene consultation meetings with interested stakeholders to inform on progress with production of the General Recommendations and foreseeable changes to the system as described in ICRP publication 103. These meetings will be coordinated by the Secretariat and the Main Commission participation.

Deliverables

The Strategic Planning Group will take overall responsibility for the coordination of the production of the ICRP General Recommendations publication for consideration by the Main Commission.
When approved, the Group will produce materials suitable for use in ICRPaedia and other communication channels of ICRP.


Invited Peer Review

As ICRP is actively involving all SLO organizations in the process of reviewing and revising the system of radiological protection, several meetings and events will be organised during the work of the Strategic Planning Group to get input and discuss practical aspects relating to the implementation of the new ICRP recommendations. Time will be dedicated to allow for the international organizations’ internal discussions and impact assessment.

Simon Bouffler (Chair), Imperial College London, United Kingdom
François Bochud (Member), Lausanne University Hospital and Unversity of Lausanne, Switzerland
Christopher Clement (Member), ICRP, Canada
Dominique Laurier (Member), French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection (ASNR), France
Werner Rühm (Member), Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Germany
Thierry Schneider (Member), CEPN, France
David Sutton (Member), University of Dundee, United Kingdom
Olga German (Secretary), ICRP, Canada