There is a direct correlation between the basic principles of radiological

protection recommended by ICRP and basic universal ethical doctrines.

This correlation can be described as follows (Gonzalez, 2010): [7]

• The principle of inter generational prudence is based on aretaic ethics (namely virtue ethics) which is expressed with the aphorism ‘Do good that will not be returned’ and is the basis for complying with the UN’s Precautionary Principle (UNESCO, 2005).

Teleological and utilitarian ethics belong to a family of ‘social-oriented’ ethics; deontological and aretaic ethics belong to a family of ‘individual — oriented’ ethics. In relation to radiation protection, namely for keeping humans safe from radiation harm or injury, teleological and utilitarian ethics would aim at the principles for protecting society as a whole, while deontological and virtue ethics are more focused on individual protection.

The principles and their ethical foundations are interrelated and appli­cable to all exposure to radiation risk, namely to exposures to ‘certain’ doses and to exposures to the ‘potential’ of doses. Moreover, distinctly from con­ventional ethical approaches, the ICRP principles harmonize all the prevail­ing ethical doctrines and use all of them in conjunction, as illustrated in Fig. 11.5 (Gonzalez, 2010).

Building bridges among the ethical doctrines and applying them to radio­logical protection has historically been at the roots of the ethic accomplish­ment of the ICRP recommendations.