Introduction

The world today uses the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) as the basis for protecting people and the environment from ionizing radiation. This normative international regime, initiated in 1928, has persisted for almost a century. It is rooted in a knowledge-based (“epistemic” is the academic term of art) community of global experts committed to using ionizing radiation while protecting radiation workers and the general public. This book aims to answer how and why this collaborative regime became both widely observed and resilient over time in an arena of great social concern and frequent controversy. It will also suggest ways in which regimes of this sort can help to resolve other issues and stabilize our conflictual world. How did this global regime expand during the Cold War from concern about X-rays and radium in medical use to ionizing radiation and radioactive materials in industry, fallout from nuclear tests, and nuclear power reactors? Why do governments and interested publics accept value-laden judgments from an unelected, self-appointed group of scientists with no legal backing? How are the norms they promulgate decided? What lessons can we apply from the radiation protection regime to other areas where technology or other knowledge-rich enterprises pose risks?