Establishing Remediation Levels in Response to a Radiological DispersalEvent (or "Dirty Bomb")

["Jim Hardeman" <Jim_Hardeman@dnr.state.ga.us>]

Colleagues ?



I ran across this blurb on another mailing list. Has anybody seen the actual article?



Jim Hardeman

Jim_Hardeman@dnr.state.ga.us 



>>> [E-mail address removed] 4/29/2004 8:35:08 >>>

This was in this May 1, 2004 edition of Environmental Science & Technology,

a publication of the American Chemical Society.  The full article will be

posted to the groups web site.  The full citation would be Vol. 38, No. 9,

2004, Environmental Science & Technology, pages 2505-2512. 

 

Abstract:



The detonation of a radiological dispersal device (RDD) could produce

significant social and economic damage, the extent of which would depend

largely on how quickly and effectively cleanup levels were established and

on public acceptance of those levels. This paper shows that current

radiological cleanup laws and regulations, models for converting dose or

risk goals to cleanup concentrations, and existing site-specific criteria

were not designed specifically for RDD cleanups but, absent changes, would

apply by default. The goals and approaches of these legal and methodological

structures often conflict; using them in response to terrorism could

undermine public confidence, cause delays, and produce unnecessary costs or

unacceptable cleanups. RDD cleanups would involve immediate priorities not

envisioned in the existing radiological cleanup framework, such as balancing

radiation risks with the health, economic, and other societal impacts

associated with access to the infrastructure necessary to sustain society

(e.g., hospitals, bridges, utilities). To minimize the achievement of

terrorism goals, the elements of an RDD cleanup response-including updating

existing legal/regulatory structures to clarify federal authority, goals,

and methods for developing RDD cleanup criteria-must be in place soon; given

the complexity of the issues and the potential societal impact, this effort

should be expedited. 





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