Re: ALARA What?

[Cristian Nicolau <cnicolau@nbnet.nb.ca>]

Stan:

Even if I worked for 15 years in HP, my formation is as a nuclear
engineer. Maybe your system of education is different, but we in
Romania, Europe had to take the same courses as the nuclear physicists
and some specific technical courses. This didn't affect my performance
as a HP but improved it by giving me a better understanding of each
experiment and new situation. 

As far as ALARA goes, I remember there are three principles of Radiation
Protection and this comes the second, usually known as "optimization".
As low as reasonably achievable applies to a justified exposure and here
is the HP role to justify or to deny or to minimize that exposure. How
many radiation workers get 50 mSv (5 Rem) in a year? No doubt we have to
assess every exposure in order to minimize it but over time ALARA lost
the R and the optimization goal. The regulator should enforce Radiation
Protection, not only a part of it.

Regards,
Cristian Nicolau
cnicolau@nbnet.nb.ca
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