Re[4]: Dear Edith and Norm....

[steve.rima@doegjpo.com (Steven Rima)]

     Michael,
     
     No apology is necessary. Your consternation is shared by many, I'll 
     wager. Since you *can't* prove a negative association, i.e., that low 
     doses of radiation *can't* cause cancer, I see no end in sight to this 
     problem. The continuing answer from the research and standards setting 
     organizations, even in the face of mounting contradictory evidence, is 
     that "there is no safe level of radiation" and that "more study is 
     needed." I've been in the HP profession for 10+ more years than you 
     have so I must be older (I prefer to think of it as more mature and 
     wiser, but some might disagree :-) and I'm willing to bet that the 
     answer is unchanged before either of us retires.
     
     I thought when I signed up for RADSAFE that it was a forum for Health 
     Physicists to exchange ideas and scientific information, but it is 
     becoming more and more a mouthpiece for some anti's to vent their 
     ridiculous theories, and it's taking up an increasing amount of 
     bandwidth and time. I'm very near the point of unsubscribing to 
     RADSAFE as it's become primarily a waste of time. I loathe that day, 
     but it's fast approaching. I'll return to lurking and block-deleting 
     most of the RADSAFE posts now...
     
     Have a great day!
     
     Steve
     
     Steven D. Rima, CHP, CSP
     Radiation Safety Officer
     MACTEC, Inc.
     sdrima@mactec.com
     or
     steven.rima@doegjpo.com


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Dear Edith and Norm....
Author:  "Michael S Ford" <MFORD@pantex.com> at Internet
Date:    8/10/00 1:09 PM


Steve and Cecilia,
     
I apologize in advance if I came across as being upset.  I am.
     
As I sat in the Plenary Session on Monday during the HPS meeting and again 
during the *Airlie Revisited* conference, the phrase "We have met the enemy and 
He is US!" came to mind.
     
With my blood pressure increasing rapidly, I listened to representatives of 
international RP organizations state that 
     
1.  Hormesis is "useless" in proving or disproving LNT
     
2.  "Optimization is a frame of mind"
     
3.  Stakeholders should determine what is "safe"
     
AND FINALLY TWO UNJUSTIFIED, UNPROVEN and IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENTS:
     
4.    There is "no safe threshold" for radiation exposures,  
     
5.  While 10 mrem might be a safe dose for one person, it may not be a safe dose
for another person!
     
Now please explain to me HOW - with those kinds of statements emanating from the
mouths of *supposed* experts - you or I can make any headway in trying to 
address the concerns of individuals not in our profession or possessing similar 
training and experience as those in the profession.
     
Bottom Line:  Until we can begin to speak with a consistent message and stop 
scaring the bujeebers out of people with inane and irresponsible statements just
because we like hearing ourselves talk... we can't beat others over the head for
not understanding us!!
     
My humble opinion only!
v/r
Michael
TRAB
     
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