Pursuit of Excellence

[OFFTOWY@AOL.COM]

>>William V. Lipton wrote:



In this business, anything less than excellence is not "good enough."  Complacency with "good enough" is what gets you in trouble.  Those who can't or won't accept this philosophy are our real enemies.>>



Well, maybe you should start counting me among the enemies.  Complacency gets you in trouble; good enough does not.  Two different things.  Excellence is a meaningless term, sort of a corporate mantra, like "quality."  I think there is such a thing as good enough and we can all argue forever about whether or not that attribute is adequately defined by any particular set of regulations.  I have seen too much damage done by those who, with all good intentions, go off in the endless pursuit of their own version of excellence.  In the wrong hands, such as those (industry groups) who carry some unearned stamp of authority, the pursuit of excellence can be a terrible thing.  How many person-rem did we all give up in the pursuit of zero skin contaminations?  How much dose are we currently giving up to clena up sites to ensure zero(calculated) dose to some unknown generation 10,000 years from now?



I think the regulators did define "good enough" (stringent dose limits, program requirements).  Then they covered themselves with ALARA.  ALARA means "never good enough."





Lew LaGarde

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