Liaison: International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU)

Links between the BIPM and the ICRU

• The ICRU was an instigator of the Ionizing Radiation Department at the BIPM, as prior to this the ICRU had found it difficult to organize international comparisons of dosimetry without a centralized laboratory.
• The ICRU participates in the CCRI and its all Sections, and the CCU.
• The BIPM attends the annual meeting of the ICRU Main Commission. Dr David T. Burns (BIPM Ionizing Radiation Department) is one of fourteen elected Commissionners of the ICRU and is chairman of its permanent Fundamental Quantities and Units Committee. He is also sponsor for a number of Report Committees of the ICRU.

Purpose

The ICRU was established by the First International Congress of Radiology. Its mission is to develop and promulgate internationally accepted recommendations on radiation-related quantities and units, terminology, measurement procedures, and reference data for the safe and efficient application of ionizing radiation to medical diagnosis and therapy, radiation science and technology, and radiation protection of individuals and populations.

The BIPM and the ICRU cooperate to ensure that the SI is followed in all its aspects when the ICRU produces reports. The BIPM also supports the ICRU by contributing to the publication of internationally accepted physical constants for ionizing radiation.