The radiation protection paradigm is a model for keeping people safe from radiation injury or harm, which in this case could be caused by NPP opera­tions. It is founded on fundamental principles, which in turn are based on solid ethical doctrines, and built up into a system of radiation protection. The primary aim is to achieve an appropriate level of protection for people and the environment against the detrimental effects of radiation exposure without unduly limiting the desirable human actions that may be associated with such exposure, one of these actions being the generation of nuclear electricity. The system includes a classification of feasible exposure situa­tions, a characterization of type of exposures and a scheme for controlling such exposures.

It is to be noted that radiation protection concerns all exposures to radia­tion from any source, regardless of its size and origin. However, the restraint of exposures can apply in their entirety only to situations in which either the source of exposure or the pathways leading to the doses received by individuals can be controlled by some reasonable means. Some exposure situations are excluded from radiological protection legislation, usually on the basis that they are unamenable to control with regulatory instruments (e. g., some exposure to natural sources), but this is not the case for exposure situations from NPPs which are unexceptionally included in regulations. However, some exposure situations at NPPs may be exempted from some radiation protection regulatory requirements whenever such controls are regarded as unwarranted, e. g. because the activity of the sources and the exposure they deliver are minute. ICRP has issued comprehensive recom­mendations for exclusion and exemptions (ICRP, 2007b). Remarkably, international agreements have been reached for exemption values in all commodities (IAEA, 2004b, 2004c), for drinking water (WHO, 2004) and for foodstuffs (CAC, 2006).