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"And, as for closing a highway after contaminated
tools fell out of a truck, I'll call you with a local emergency response agency
evacuating 200 people from a building after finding an exempt source there.
We really need to be reaching out to our First Responders and educating
them with all we've got, before we see a real death from a panic evacuation
where there was no real hazard in the first place."
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Inadequate
Control of World's Radioactive Sources |
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| Vienna, 24 June 2002 |
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"the IAEA has found that more than 100 countries may
have no minimum infrastructure in place to properly control radiation
sources."
"The IAEA is also concerned about the over 50 countries
that are not IAEA Member States (there are 134), as they do not benefit
from IAEA assistance and are likely to have no regulatory infrastructure
."
I personally know some of these countries, and familiar with the very
poor radiation and safety protection infrastructure and without the necessary laws and
regulation. If there is not control of sources, and the
infrastructure is weak, how to protect for instance patient? Or
implement emergency preparedness
capabilities?
This situation I can understand and explain in many of
these countries the
competent authority is under the Ministry of Health, involved
in problematical social complexity of sanitary conditions, this
situation delay more than the necessary the introduction of governmental
laws on radiation safety, or in the increasing of resources to operate a
regulatory programme. (This is enough to avoid also to bureaucracy
problems)
What
I can't understand is the USA portrait made here in the
radsafe
Jose
Julio Rozental
Israel |
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2002 3:47
AM
Subject: Re: some details on St.
Lucie
In a message dated
10/17/2002 8:13:42 AM Pacific Daylight Time, michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu
writes:
We should NOT stop monitoring, I'm not saying that, either. I'm
just saying
react in proportion to the hazard. If a box of dirty tools
falls on the
interstate, you don't need to scramble literally hundreds
of emergency
workers and terrorize the public to clean it up. If someone
gets a 21 mrem
unplanned exposure, log it, report it, and get back to
working on something
of actual significance.
Thank you very much. We (i.e., health
physics professionals) contribute to the public hysteria by even giving a nod
to a 21 millirem exposure. I mean Puh-Lease! Record it, like a
pilot would their flight hours. We track it because small exposures can
indeed add up over time, but is this in any way remarkable? No.
And, as for closing a highway after contaminated tools fell out of a
truck, I'll call you with a local emergency response agency evacuating 200
people from a building after finding an exempt source there. We really
need to be reaching out to our First Responders and educating them with all
we've got, before we see a real death from a panic evacuation where there was
no real hazard in the first place.
Barbara
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