Re: Franz - RE: X-ray of packages and containers

["Franz Schoenhofer" <franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT>]

Private:

Franz Schoenhofer

Habicherg. 31/7

A-1160 Vienna, AUSTRIA

Phone: -43 699 11681319

e-mail: franz.schoenhofer@chello.at



Office:

MR Dr. Franz Schoenhofer

Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management

Dep. I/8U, Radiation Protection

Radetzkystr. 2

A-1031 Vienna, AUSTRIA

phone: +43-1-71100-4458

fax: +43-1-7122331

e-mail: franz.schoenhofer@bmu.gv.at







-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: David_S_Hyder@RL.GOV <David_S_Hyder@RL.GOV>

An: magna1@jps.net <magna1@jps.net>; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

<radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>

Datum: Donnerstag, 27. September 2001 18:01

Betreff: Franz - RE: X-ray of packages and containers





Franz,



You wrote:



"We have the ALARA principle and at least in



Europe we have a legislation, which prohibits the deliberate use of ionizing



radiation on humans for other purposes than medical ones."



The forwarded e-mail to this list yesterday was of an image from Calais.

The last time I looked at a map, France was in Europe. Would you please

explain the "medical application" being used here. Seems to be a security

issue in Europe too.



------------------------------------------



The answer is very easy. Calais is in Europe. The picture forwarded is not

(!!!) an x-ray or gamma-ray picture, but taken by recordig infrared

radiation ("warmth") which is emitted from warm material and of course also

bodies. Or did anybody see a skeleton? Remember the famous first pictures of

the skeleton of a hand taken by Roentgen.



I am more than surprised, that obviously nobody has recognized that. (But I

have not read most of todays postings yet.) Why didn't all those radiation

experts on RADSAFE think just a little moment, how big and powerful an X-ray

machine would have to be to be able to make an x-ray picture of this size?

And the dozens of square meters of x-ray sensitive film and even more the

machine to develop it?



Next item: Gamma rays. What kind of sources are used? Industrial gamma

radiography sources? Iridium? Cobalt? If so, they would have to have a

really enormous activity to produce such big pictures on the dozens of

square meters of film....... (see above). What about shielding of these

super-sources? What about shielding the surroundings of the area where the

trains, lorries etc. are examined? What about the doses to a possible hidden

person?



This is so absurd, that I am not only surprised, but also disappointed, that

RADSAFErs obviously took these silly messages from mass media serious.



Franz









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