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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
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