Significant progress has been made during the last few decades in reducing the radiation hazards (medical and nonmedical) to personnel patients, and the general public. The NCRP recommendations and their general adoption by regulating agencies have played an important role in these efforts. There is, however, still need for additional improvement in diagnostic x-ray procedures to further minimize the possibility of systemic injuries. Better beam collimation and the elimination of unnecessary and repetitive radiologic examination should be considered further. Efforts should also be made to evaluate and eliminate radiation hazards of new sources of x-rays emitted as an unwanted by-product. (Author)