Re[2]: The opinions expressed are strictly mine

[steve.rima@DOEGJPO.COM (Steven Rima)]

     On soapbox...
     
     Bill,
     
     Just who and what is a "reasonable person" with respect to nuclear and 
     health physics matters? If we are going to spend dollars to go way 
     above and beyond regulations just to be "so safe that there can be no 
     doubt in the mind of a reasonable person," we can't win.
     
     I consider my wife to be a reasonable person, and as an accountant, 
     reasonably well educated as well. However, when it comes to nuclear 
     and health physics matters, she does not have the knowledge necessary 
     to make informed risk decisions concerning low doses of radiation. She 
     must place some trust in experts, whether it's me or someone else. 
     (One time many years ago, she asked me to explain to her exactly what 
     it is that I do for a living. When her eyes glazed over, I quit 
     talking and she's never asked since. :-)
     
     If we applied the 'so safe that no reasonable person has a doubt' 
     standard to all activities in this country, we'd become paralyzed and 
     bankrupt very quickly. I consider myself to be a reasonable person 
     (even though there are some who may at times disagree.) If I don't 
     trust the experts who design and build airplanes, does that 
     automatically mean that they are wrong and that airplanes are not safe 
     enough? That's an absurd standard to attempt to meet.
     
     Although it's not currently politically correct to say that the 
     general public does not have the knowledge to understand something, 
     whether it's a nuclear topic or something else, it's absolutely true! 
     The problem is that the public generally trusts the experts, except 
     for nuclear topics, where they trust whatever the press prints.
     
     Off soapbox...
     
     Steven D. Rima, CHP, CSP
     Manager, Health Physics and Industrial Hygiene
     MACTEC-ERS, LLC
     steven.rima@doegjpo.com


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: The opinions expressed are strictly mine
Author:  William V Lipton <liptonw@dteenergy.com> at Internet
Date:    1/19/00 12:35 PM


No, I'm saying just the opposite. We not only have to be safe, we also have 
to be so safe that there can be no doubt in the mind of a reasonable person.
     
The opinions expressed are strictly mine. 
It's not about dose, it's about trust.
     
Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com
     
     
     <snip>
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