[ RadSafe ] RadSafe - an international list?

[Dan]

Lieber Franz!

How is the weather in Austria? How I miss the Styrian Alps!  Spring  
has sprung here and the pollen count is climbing and my allergies are  
back. I have a sunburn from bike-riding over the weekend in Las Alamos!

As you well know, the US is still hung on the old SI unit of Curies,  
etc. but please remember that I still report data in the unit that  
they were originally measured, be that cps (counts per second), pCi/L,  
times bacground, dpm or pounds U3O8. To do differently would be a dis- 
service to the data and scientific method of reporting.

Uranium is still sold as $/lb U3O8 and even if I measure it in Tonnes  
U or Kg U I will still report the commercial quantities.

Were it not that the US EPA, NRC and others still use the old  
measures, I'm sure the rest of us would have followed decades ago.

Incidentally, when I prepared the export / import paperwork for my  
check sources from France to the USA, I did it both in Bq and pCi  
values, citing IAEA, IATA and CFR (Code of Federal Regulations)  
standards. Regardless of the unit, the international  limits for  
exempt quantities are identical.

Of couse while overseas, I immediately use whatever units eveyone else  
uses and I am happier with Bq, Sievert, and Gray as well as meter, Kg,  
L, etc.

Enjoy the Spring weather in Vienna. I prefer the Alps around Trofaiach  
in summer to Vienna.

Glückauf!

Dan ii

Dan W McCarn
HotGreenChile at gmail.com
+1-505-310-3922
Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 12, 2010, at 3:00 PM, Franz Schönhofer <franz.schoenhofer at chello.a 
t> wrote:

> Jeff and RADSAFErs,
>
> As far as I remember RADSAFE is an international list. I am  
> "impressed" by
> the many pCi of Rn-222 cited in very recent contributions (which by  
> the way
> are not really scientifically impressive!), but almost everywhere on  
> this
> earth one uses the nowadays correct units like Bq or Sv or Gy, meter  
> etc.
> The big and influencial journals - also the US based ones like "Health
> Physics" - have since decades banned the old Ci and rem units, not  
> to talk
> about feet, inches, miles etc. SI units are the only ones to be used  
> in
> scientific journals.
>
> I would advocate, that at RADSAFE SI units should be used as well,  
> not only
> because of its internationality, but also because RADSAFE is a  
> SCIENTIFIC
> list.
>
> We did not have this discussion for quite a few years on RADSAFE,  
> but it
> should not be forgotten.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Franz
>
> Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
> MinRat i.R.
> Habicherg. 31/7
> A-1160 Wien/Vienna
> AUSTRIA
>
>
>
>
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