1 Towards the Development of an ALARA Culture

As early on as the sixties, the radiological protection system was already based on the principle of precaution, through the assumption that health effects may exist even at the lowest levels of exposure, and, as a result, the adoption of the linear exposure-risk relationship. At the same time, in parallel with the creation of a scientific organization dedicated to broadening the knowledge required to determine the exposure-risk relationship, a “ philosophy of action ” was progressively defined to manage the radiological risk in a responsible manner [1]. This philosophy, based on the concept of risk acceptability, was incorporated into the system of radiological protection through the ALARA principle, which recommends, for each exposure situation, “ reducing exposures As Low As Reasonably Achievable, taking into consideration economic and social factors ”. The practical implementation of the ALARA principle is complex. It requires defining transaction mechanisms which enable practicing responsible management of the radiological risk, taking into account, among other things, possible risk transfers in groups (transfers between different specialized workers, between workers and the public, between patients and workers, between present generations and future generations) and the allocation of protection resources. Recent consideration of the question has increasingly highlighted the need to support radiological risk management by close interaction between a rational approach based on scientific and economic logic, and a more pragmatic approach involving negotiation between the involved parties, together with feedback