[ RadSafe ] To the list - SI

[Cary Renquist]

I can understand that...
 
The Bq is very "small" and the Sv/Gy are relatively "large" when compared to the traditional units, so it is easy to have misunderstandings...
 
I can imagine someone in the U.S. being told that the dose rate in an uncontrolled area is 100 uSv/h and thinking "oh, that's nothing".
 
On the other hand being told that the source sitting on the bench is 1 Mega-Bq sounds much more intimidating than being told that it is 27 micro-Ci -- quite a bit of misunderstanding can occur when there appears to be 12 orders of magnitude between the (exactly the same) reported quantities.
 
I more or less have a "feel" for the SI quantities now, but I still occasionally second-guess my intuiton and do a quick conversion in my head and end up dividing by 100 when I should multiply by 100 and thus make exactly the sort of error that Mike mentioned.
 
Cary
--
cary.renquist at ezag.com

________________________________

From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Jeff Terry
Sent: Mon 28-Mar-11 12:53
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: [ RadSafe ] To the list



FYI,

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




Begin forwarded message:

>
>
> From: "Borisky, Michael (Civ, ARL/ADLO)" <michael.borisky at us.army.mil>
> Date: March 28, 2011 11:33:10 AM CDT
> To: "The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList" <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] SI units (was Oregon..etc) (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> I don't like the SI units because they are error-prone, which is not good in
> safety endeavors. 
>
> Mike Borisky
> ARL Radiation Safety
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Stabin, Michael
> Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011 11:43 AM
> To: radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] SI units (was Oregon..etc)
>
> Franz wrote:
>
>> I really have a wish, connected to radiation protection: The whole world is
> learning English, but the USA is still sticking to radiation units being
> more than outdated in almost all of what US-hardliners call "rest of the
> world". The USA will soon be the only country in this world using them. 
>
> Perfect!!! Hear, hear! I used to show a graph of the worldwide 'iron
> triangle" of protection against SI units, which included the US, Liberia and
> Burma. Now it is just a point of fortified resistance, here in the US, which
> is utterly ridiculous and nonscientific and must end. People complain that
> it's too hard, we can't learn it (of course while saying we can do anything
> else in the world). But every American can answer instantly if a 2 liter
> bottle of soda is about right or too much for one person to drink during
> dinner, right? Gy, Sv, Bq, it's not that hard, people and we look quite
> silly for not trying. As Franz notes, almost everywhere I go in the world,
> people speak English, along with their native languages, and often one or
> two more. You can learn to speak SI, get some dang Rosetta Stone DVDs if you
> have to.
>
>
> Mike
>
> Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
> Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences Department of
> Radiology and Radiological Sciences Vanderbilt University
> 1161 21st Avenue South
> Nashville, TN 37232-2675
> Phone (615) 343-4628
> Fax   (615) 322-3764
> e-mail     michael.g.stabin at vanderbilt.edu internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com
>
>
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>
>
>

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