RE: US radiation safety limits not based on science-GAO

["Minnema, Douglas" <Douglas.Minnema@ns.doe.gov>]

One other point to consider.  Please somebody correct me if I am wrong, but
I believe that the 25 mrem and 15 mrem limits are intended to cover the
completion of D & D operations, where the contractor can "walk away" after
achieving those limits, and the facility can be free-released.  If I recall
properly, this was the crux of the argument between the NRC and the EPA over
the value to use.  The previous practice had been to treat each situation on
an individual basis, which resulted in a wide range of limits and no
consistency of application.

This is as opposed to the 100 mrem limit, which assumes that there is an
active ongoing program in place to monitor releases and take action if they
are at risk of being challenged.

Doug Minnema, PhD, CHP
Defense Programs, DOE
<Douglas.Minnema@ns.doe.gov>

what few thoughts i have are truly my own.


> At 09:41 AM 7/17/00 -0500, Dave Derenzo wrote:
> >Aren't the NRC limits for the public 100 mrem per for most of the 
> >population and 500 mrem per year to a small fraction of the 
> >population?  Where did the 25 mrem limit come from?  Where in the regs is
> 
> >the EPA limit of 15 mrem found?
> *******************************************
> 
> I believe that the NRC 25 mrem annual limit assumes that a person might
> have up to four other exposures per year from other sources, so this
> limits
> the total for such a person to 100 mrem per year.
> 
> I believe that he EPA 15 mrem is based on a hypothetical mathematical
> calculation of lifetime risk using a the standard LNT model. 15 mrem per
> year times 70 years of life is about 1 rem which EPA believes represents a
> lifetime cancer risk of one in twenty-thousand.
> 
> Otto
> 
> 	*****************************************************
> 	Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
> 	Institute of Toxicology & Environmental Health (ITEH)
> 	(Street Address: Bldg. 3792, Old Davis Road)
> 	University of California, Davis, CA 95616
> 	E-Mail: ograabe@ucdavis.edu
> 	Phone:(530) 752-7754, FAX:(530) 758-6140
> 	*****************************************************
> 

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