[ RadSafe ] ALARA

[garyi at trinityphysics.com]

Sandy,

It pains me to disagree with people I admire, so why not just change your mind and agree 
with me?  :)

I almost agree with you that "it works just fine", in the sense that doses are kept low and 
occupational exposure is very safe under ALARA.  But my beef is that we foist a myth on the 
world by pretending that they should worry about miniscule doses.  Its like being locked in a 
room with someone who believes that tiny bugs are crawling everywhere and must be 
stomped and swatted.  Do you go along with that, stomping and swatting, or do you bang on 
the door and ask to be let out?

I stick by my statement that ALARA gives us nothing we could not have by writing clear regs.  
Do tiny doses pose a risk?  Maybe.  But maybe we should tell people to hold their breath so 
they can be safe from radon. Or just breath very very shallow.

-Gary Isenhower


On 20 Jun 2008 at 8:23, Perle, Sandy wrote:

Subject:        	RE: [ RadSafe ] ALARA
Date sent:      	Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:23:19 -0700
From:           	"Perle, Sandy" <sperle at mirion.com>
To:             	<garyi at trinityphysics.com>, <radsafe at radlab.nl>

>>ALARA is just stupid.  No doubt, people believe they are fulfilling
ALARA, but does anyone really do it?  Or do they just reach a point
where they think, consciously or not, "That's low enough" and stop
trying to reduce doses?<<

Gary,

ALARA is only "stupid" when the term Reasonable is not considered in
the operation. If a reasonable approach is implemented, then ALARA
works just fine. It's all how one defines reasonable.

-----------------------------------
Sander C. Perle 
President
Mirion Technologies
Dosimetry Services Division 
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614

+1 (949) 296-2306 (Office)
+1 (949) 296-1144 (Fax)

Mirion Technologies: http://www.mirion.com/ 





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