J.E. Burns’s scientific contributions

The British Committee on Radiation Units and Measurements (BCRU) has taken note of the statement from the recent meeting of the International Commission on Radiological Protection in Paris (ICRP, 1985), which recommended that the effective quality factor, Q, for neutrons should be increased by a factor of two as compared with the values given in ICRP Publication 21 (ICRP, 1973). Having considered this statement, BCRU recommends that no change should be made to the quality factor for neutrons in radiation protection practice in the UK for the time being, that the quality factors should continue to be based on information in ICRP Publication 21, and that the quality factors used should be recorded from now on. There are two aspects to this recent ICRP recommendation about which BCRU feels some concern. (1) The ICRP has stated its intention to undertake a further review of biological and other information: “The implications of this information will be considered as part of a larger review of recommendations to be undertaken by the Commission over the next four years or so” (ICRP, 1985). It is considered, therefore, that it would be premature to change this one figure when other recommendations may appear in the next few years.