Key Issues

Radiation Standards and Organizations Provide Safety for Public and Workers

View this fact sheet as a printer-friendly PDF

January 2006

Key Facts

Scientists have studied radiation effects for more than 100 years, and stringent safety regulations have governed man-made uses of this energy for nearly as long. Two new reports provide strong confirmation that the risk of health effects from exposure to low levels of radiation is small. They also conclude that current radiation protection standards for workers and the public remain valid.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of Energy and Transportation are the principal federal agencies responsible for establishing radiation protection regulations. These agencies work with international organizations to ensure their regulations are based on internationally recognized scientific studies.
The National Academy of Sciences in June 2005 released its report from the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation Committee VII (BEIR VII), “Health Risks From Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation.” The BEIR VII report will serve as the updated scientific basis for radiation safety standards in the United States for the next decade.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer studied the effects of exposure to low levels of radiation on more than 400,000 nuclear workers in 15 countries. The study panel concluded that its results are “statistically compatible with the current bases for radiation protection standards.”
The NRC’s annual limit for occupational exposure to radiation is 5,000 millirem (mrem). The average U.S. nuclear power plant worker receives 160 mrem. A typical X-ray, by comparison, provides 10 mrem.
The average American receives radiation exposure of about 360 mrem annually from all sources, according to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.¹ More than 80 percent of that comes from nature—from radon in the air, from rocks and soil, and from outer space. The average public exposure from the nuclear fuel cycle is 0.5 mrem per year.