[The recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for high-dose-rate...

ICRP (International Commission for Radiological Protection) Committee 3 ("Radioprotection in medicine") is currently finalizing two recommendations about Brachytherapy. The first text, from Task Group (TG) 53, is focussing on the prevention of high-dose-rate brachytherapy accidents. It reminds the reader of the 500 accidents/incidents which have been reported so far in the literature, and reports in details on some representative accidents. Building on those data, the text gives general and specific recommendations, aiming at reducing both the frequency and the severity of those accidents. The second text, from Task Group 57, considers the radiation safety aspects of brachytherapy for prostate cancer using permanently implanted sources. For this topic, no severe accident has never been reported so far. However, some radioprotection problems arose, due to the dose received from the patients, to migrating seeds and to cremation. The text presents recommendations specifically addressing those issues.