Abstract

On February 2015 a petition was submitted to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reject the linear no threshold hypothesis as the base for radiation safety regulation and using threshold and hormesis evidence instead. In this article we briefly review the history of linear no threshold hypothesis and its use by regulators, the lack of evidence supporting the model, and the large body of evidence supporting threshold and hormesis. Finally, we discuss the points in favor and against this proposal and the ACMUI (Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes) recommendations are cited.