Southern ural studies and their input to the work of ICRP

Since the late 1940s, the Southern Urals region in the Russian Federation hosts nuclear facilities, which operations provided substantial amount of information on impact of occupational and public exposures to ionising radiation. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recognises the joint Russia-USA radiation studies in the Southern Urals as globally significant contributions to the science of radiological protection and systematically uses their outcomes in the work of the ICRP Committees 1 and 2. For the ICRP Committee 1, results of the studies contribute to improved understanding of biological mechanisms of radiation effects and help modelling radiation-attributed health risks. For the ICRP Committee 2, the studies provide valuable data for development and validation of dose assessment methods and reference data. Together, the Southern Urals radiation studies help to develop and validate evidence-based scientific recommendations, thus supporting the continuing advancement of the radiological protection practice worldwide.