RE: Son of ALARA!

["Bradshaw, Keith" <Keith.Bradshaw@nnc.co.uk>]

	Dear colleagues

	A single alpha particle track through a single cell nucleus averages
23000 ionisations, 200 DNA single-strand breaks and 35 double-strand breaks.
Most cells this happens to die, and a large percentage of survivors carry
chromosome aberrations.  I'm sorry, but I still need a lot of convincing to
see this as beneficial.


> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Stanley Fitch [SMTP:stanley_fitch@nmenv.state.nm.us]
> > Why ALARA?  Quite simply this:  One ionizing event can cause a single
> > unrepaired double strand break, which may result in a fatal malignancy.
> > 
> And therein lies the problem with ALAA.  Gofman and Tamplin scared a lot
> of
> people with statements like "So and so event may cause up to 30,000
> additional (bad things)."  Unstated was the more probable "So and so event
> my have no effect at all."  For ALA(r)A to be a valid concept, someone
> must
> prove "beyond the shadow of a doubt" to all of our satisfactions that "can
> cause" is really "will cause", and "may result" is really "will result".
> Until then, I choose to believe that one ionizing event will have no
> permanent detrimental effect.
> 
> 
	Personal thoughts only


	keith.bradshaw@nnc.co.uk






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