RE: 60 Minutes story on Savannah River Laboratory

[Rick_Strickert@radian.com]

I don't know if 60 Minutes was specifically referring to this incident.

There was a plutonium intake incident report for a crane operator in the
F-Canyon chemical separations facility
 issued on July 14, 1997, by Savannah River
(http://irmsrv02.srs.gov/general/people/doe-sr/doe-oea/sr9717.htm
<http://irmsrv02.srs.gov/general/people/doe-sr/doe-oea/sr9717.htm> ).
The plutonium intake was first reported on April 29, 1997, and was
discovered by means of a routine semi-annual bioassay screening.  According
to the report:

		"The crane operator's estimated dose is 17 rem. (Rem stands
for Roentgen equivalent man, a measure of radiation dose received by an
individual.) This 17 rem represents the total cumulative dose the employee
is expected to receive over the next 50 years from this intake. The dose
from this intake is well within lifetime regulatory limits for occupational
radiological exposure. The actual dose to the employee in the first year is
estimated to be approximately 750 millirem or three-quarters of a rem. This
actual annual dose will decline each year thereafter. A final dose
assessment is expected later this month. The investigation board did
validate as acceptable the methodology used in determining the estimated
dose received by the crane operator. 
		{Note: Members of the general public typically receive
approximately 360 mrem (.36 rem) per year from natural background and
non-occupational sources of radiation.}"


Rick Strickert, Ph.D.
Radian International
Austin, TX

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