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Converting to the metric system inch by inch



Someone at the HPS Summer School last month quipped that the USA is

converting to the metric system inch by inch, which I found hilarious.

As an example of such progress, I read that newly purchased machines for

shredding of classified matter now must shred to no larger than 1 mm by

5 mm, as opposed to the earlier standard of 1/32 inch by 1/2 inch.



Along that line, here's a document from the U.S. Department of Energy

http://www.eh.doe.gov/radiation/exempt/pnnl.pdf granting an exemption

from a requirement of 10 CFR 835 to the Pacific Northwest National

Laboratory (my employer, but I'm not in the applied side of the house

and knew nothing of this request). In the exemption, DOE grants PNNL the

right to use dpm ("disintegrations per minute") instead of curies or

submultiples of curies in its bioassay program. The dpm, of course, it

the currency of the trade for radiobioassay analytical laboratories in

the US, and it makes practical sense not to have to convert everything

to pCi. The intent of the regulation was that measurements be in

activity units, not in count rate units like counts per minute (cpm).

There is a similar requirement in 10 CFR 20 for expressing the results

of leak tests of sealed sources.



The good news, I guess, is that we're now 1/60 of the way to becquerels!



- Dan Strom



The opinions expressed above, if any, are mine alone and have not been

reviewed or approved by Battelle, the Pacific Northwest National

Laboratory, or the U.S. Department of Energy.



Daniel J. Strom, Ph.D., CHP

Environmental Technology Directorate, Pacific Northwest National

Laboratory

Mail Stop K3-56, PO BOX 999, Richland, Washington 99352-0999 USA

Overnight: Battelle for the U.S. DOE, 790 6th St., Richland WA 99354

ATTN: Dan Strom K3-56

Telephone (509) 375-2626 FAX (509) 375-2019 mailto:strom@pnl.gov

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