[ RadSafe ] dose values reported in Japan continue to be confusing

Jeff Terry terryj at iit.edu
Sat Mar 19 21:12:27 CDT 2011


Sieverts and rem are by far the absolute worst conversions for me, so I can understand why CNN would have trouble. 

The factor of 100 just seems metric. It just isn't a conversion factor like 454 g per lb, 1.06 qts per l, and 2.54 cm per inch.  You can't see a dose so you have to remember which one is bigger. Since the rem numbers were drilled into my head, all of the factors of 10 from milli to micro still hurt when dealing with this and you just don't want to be off by an order of magnitude. 1 mrem/day still makes far more sense to me that 10 uSv/day. 

Then take into account the language translation and the translation to chest x-rays, it is amazing that anyone gets this correct. 

Sorry, but I have to go and find a few 5/32" screws for a project that I am working on. 

REM forever ; )

This last week has caused me to do more sievert/rem conversions then I have had before, not too mention sievert/chest x-ray conversions. Amazingly, it is finally starting to register. 

Best,

Jeff


Jeff Terry
Asst. Professor of Physics
Life Science Bldg Rm 166
Illinois Institute of Technology
3101 S. Dearborn St. 
Chicago IL 60616
630-252-9708
terryj at iit.edu




On Mar 19, 2011, at 8:42 PM, Perle, Sandy wrote:

> The posting below was posted to the wearing subject, so I've started a new
> subject line. Sorry about that.
> 
> -----------------------------------
> Sander C. Perle
> President
> Mirion Technologies
> Dosimetry Services Division
> 2652 McGaw Avenue
> Irvine, CA 92614
> 
> +1 (949) 296-2306 (Office)
> +1 (949) 296-1130 (Fax)
> 
> Mirion Technologies: http://www.mirion.com/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 3/19/11 6:39 PM, "Perle, Sandy" <SPerle at mirion.com> wrote:
> 
>> From the latest CNN report out of Tokyo:
>> 
>> "Six members of the emergency crew at the plant have been exposed to
>> more than 100 millisieverts of radiation per hour, the equivalent of
>> getting 10 chest X-rays per hour, plant owner Tokyo Electric Power
>> Company said.
>> 
>> Tokyo Electric had raised the exposure level for emergency workers from
>> its previous standard of 100
>> millisieverts per hour to 250 millisieverts."
>> 
>> I never heard of any chest x-ray where you get 10 per hour with a dose of
>> 100 mSv!
>> 
>> Where do they get their stuff? Are they simply oblivious to the dose units
>> they're reporting? Now if they said 100 mrem per bour, I could see a chest
>> x-ay of 10 mrem each.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Sandy
> 
> 
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