Re: Steel and Metal Consumers Radioactivity Protection Act

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

	I don't see how such a law is meaningful without a quantitative
definition of "contaminated with radioactivity". Every object contains
some radioactivity -- does that mean it is contaminated?  If an
ordinary bucket is once filled with potassium fertilizer, is it thereafter
contaminated?  What if it was once  filled with uranium ore -- does that 
make a difference? The iron ore from which steel is made contains
radioactivity -- is all steel therefore  contaminated?

Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu


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