ALARA What?

[Stanley Fitch <stanley_fitch@nmenv.state.nm.us>]

When speaking to radiological workers, regulators frequently hear the
phrase, "My boss reassured me that the radiation I’m receiving is so
small that I’m in no danger."  Or one of my favorite phrases, "Radiation
is not as dangerous as everyone claims, besides its my life and I’m
careful."  (Kinda makes one wanna snuggle up against his radiography
camera!  Just place that sucker on the car seat next to you and
take-off.  Don’t forget [Jamnes] to secure the camera with the
seatbelt.)

It is inappropriate for HPs to wholly adopt the radiation safety
ideologies of the ANS.  Its also wrong to spend so much time arguing the
whole LNT/hormesis issue, the results of which will be a new breed of
complacency.  The reason the Albuquerque particle accelerator incident
occurred was because the corporation didn’t give a damn.  What a shame!
What a waste of one person’s appendages and livelihood!

I’ve received enough exposure in my life to know that I don’t care to
receive any more in excess.  Why do people voluntarily irradiate
themselves without minimizing their exposures?  Next question, why are
HPs pushing governmental agencies to raise the exposure bar to levels
that unnecessarily irradiate people?  Go figure.  Nuclear engineers
(hear me ANS) don’t make very good HPs.

I’m one regulator that still believes in the ALARA concept, and I
enforce it.

This is an unofficial correspondence, and should not be thought of as an
endorsement by my employer.

Stan Fitch
stanley_fitch@nmenv.state.nm.us


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