intentional misuse - proposed "cures"

["Karam, Andrew" <Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu>]

With all due respect to the opinions voiced regarding this latest incident,
I think that some pertinent factors are being overlooked by some who
probably lack direct experience in a university setting.  I should also
preface this by pointing out that I am NOT advocating relaxation of controls
and I am NOT condoning what happened.  I AM pointing out that there are some
fundamental differences between research institutions and nuclear power
plants and solutions that might work well at one do not necessarily
translate to the other.  I would also ask anyone considering responding to
this to read it through to the end before doing so.

1.  Universities conduct research, education, and development using grant
dollars and some governmental support.  To do so, universities are dependent
on attracting high-quality researchers, professors, and students who, in
turn, will attract grant money and contracts to do their research.  These
grants and contracts provide a very large fraction of the money universities
use for their operations.  Also, most researchers are "free agents" in that
they are not obligated to remain anywhere - they choose a place to work
based on its reputation, proximity to fellow researchers, physical
facilities, ease of conducting their research, and other factors.  Requiring
psychological testing of researchers, grad students, and laboratory staff in
order for them to do their research is a very good way to encourage them to
go elsewhere.  It is also an insult to the 99+% who are responsible users
and it is not going to be free.  Driving researchers and quality grad
students away is one way to reduce radiological incidents, but not the
recommended way.  Would YOU want psychological testing (or drug or alcohol
testing) required every time you renew your driver's license just because a
small percentage of drivers are irresponsible?

2.  Universities typically work with relatively small amounts of relatively
innocuous nuclides.  We are not talking about losing control of kilogram
quantities of weapons-grade plutonium or even Ci quantities of mixed fission
products.  With a few exceptions, no lab on campus contains enough
radioactive material to cause harm to anyone.  The most dangerous piece of
radiation-producing equipment we have on campus (with the exception of our
Laboratory for Laser Energetics) is either an x-ray diffraction machine, an
irradiator, or one of our radiation oncology accelerators.  These are all
more strictly controlled and, in any event, it's hard to surreptitiously
sneak one out of the room to irradiate someone.  Should we lock up all
cleaning supplies on the off chance that your spouse might decide someday to
pour Drano in your coffee?

3.  Universities are not here to make a profit.  Many researchers conduct
long-term basic research into areas that may or may not prove commercially
viable.  If we choose to ratchet up our efforts to keep everyone under
surveillance on a continual basis, we're going to have to pay for it
somehow, and we can't just ratchet up the costs to our customers.  Not to
mention driving away the people we depend on to call ourselves a university.

The root cause of the furor is not sloppy or ill-intentioned researchers,
it's the public's fear of radiation and their fear of cancer.  THAT is what
is driving the regulations that dictate locking up every atom of
radioactivity, but allowing drano to remain unrestricted.  Basically, we
have a problem with education and perception, not with security.

As I have mentioned in previous postings to Radsafe, I do not consider these
factors to be excuses to simply permit the sloppy or illegal use of nuclides
on campus.  Our priorities are simple: health and safety, regulatory
compliance, and providing services to our medical and research staff.  With
the exceptions noted above, health and safety is not a serious issue, even
under LNT.  Regulatory compliance IS a serious issue, and it is one that we
take very seriously, even in the absence of legitimate health and safety
issues.  Providing services is also a serious issue because the university
exists for research, not for placating and coddling radiation safety and
industrial hygiene staff.  If we provide substandard service then the
researchers simply go somewhere else.

As has been mentioned numerous times on Radsafe, the vast majority of
intentional misuse incidents are the result of authorized persons doing
unauthorized things with radioactive substances.  There is NO way to
completely secure radioactive materials from such misuse without requiring
that ALL radioactive materials be supervised by radiation safety monitors at
all times just as there is no way to protect against a truly determined
criminal in any other area.  I would suggest that, given the low level of
risk posed by misuse and the high cost (both dollars and lost researchers)
of such draconian policies, this is not a feasible option.

It is very easy to look at a university health physics program from the
standpoint of commercial or naval nuclear power (and I have a fair amount of
experience with the latter) and to say that some activities simply should
not be allowed or should be controlled better.  However, this knee-jerk
response is, I believe, a great oversimplification that tends to reflect
poorly on those who make it and on the targets of these ill-informed
statements.  Our job is radiation SAFETY, and I would be willing to bet that
all authorized users at virtually every university are SAFE.  I, and, I
suspect, most other university RSOs and health physicists would appreciate a
small degree of consideration for the very different conditions under which
we do our jobs and the actual risks involved before we are called on the
carpet by those of you who are unfamiliar with our place of work.  

Andrew Karam, CHP              (716) 275-1473 (voice)
Radiation Safety Officer          (716) 275-3781 (office)
University of Rochester           (716) 256-0365 (fax)
601 Elmwood Ave. Box HPH   Rochester, NY  14642

Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
http://Intranet.urmc.rochester.edu/RadiationSafety
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