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Who Sets the Rules: Radiation Protection Agencies
The ICRP and NCRP recommend; the FDA, NRC and your state enforce. Know who controls the equipment, the radioactive material and your x-ray room.
Advisers
Some organizations study radiation risk and recommend limits, but their advice is not law until a government adopts it. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), founded in 1928, advises the world. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), chartered by Congress in 1964, advises the United States. The National Academies' BEIR committee (Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, latest report BEIR VII) and the United Nations committee UNSCEAR estimate risk from studies such as the atomic bomb survivors. The ICRP system rests on three principles: justification (the benefit must outweigh the risk), optimization (keep dose as low as reasonably achievable, ALARA) and dose limitation (limits for workers and the public, never for patients).