Radiological detriment: application of the new risk metric of International commission on radiological protection

Currently, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is discussing the practical application of a new radiation risk metric, called radiological detriment (RD). The concept of RD was first introduced by the ICRP in Publication 22 more than 30 years ago. At the same time, it was important to assess both the risk of radiation induced cancer development and the quality of the future life of patients. Of great interest is the comparison of RD and the lifetime attributable risk (LAR), which is currently widely used in assessing radiation safety. In this study, a comparison of RD and LAR estimates was made for the population living near the fabrication/refabrication module (FRM) of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex, that is currently under construction in the city of Seversk, Tomsk region. It is shown that during normal operation of the FRM and after a beyond design basis accident, the RD value is approximately 20% higher than the LAR value. Thus, the LAR value of mortality for residents of the city of Seversk during normal operation of the FRM is 40 times lower than the negligible risk level according to NRB-99/2009 (10-6 year-1), while the RD value remains 32 times lower than the negligible level. The simultaneous estimation of the RD and LAR values performed for the first time shows the possibility of their effective use for assessing the level of radiological protection of the population and workers.