[ RadSafe ] Nuclear power plants; radiological bombs not on top oflist of attacks

[John Andrews]

Ray, these articles don't count for educatiing the public.  You need to 
have op-ed articles and many of them stating the same thing over and 
over, hopefully written by many different people with the knowledge to 
back up what they say.  So, Floyd, go for it, but see if you can get in 
a widely distributed newspaper.

John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee

Ray Johnson CHP PE RSO wrote:

>Floyd:
>
>Your concerns are well appreciated by the HP community.  
>
>However, I would suggest that there is much more involved than a matter of
>explaining radiation in simple language. The fears are radiation are
>strongly ingrained in the attitudes of the public as a mind-set.  This is
>largely due to continuous references by the media to "deadly radiation."  I
>would suggest that fears of radiation are more about psychological factors
>than understanding the technology of radiation. 
>
>I have attempted to address  the issues of how to deal with the fears of
>radiation and nuclear terrorism most recently in two long chapters in the
>book, "Public Protection from Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Terrorism,
>Brodsky, A., Johnson, R, and Goans, R. Editors, Health Physics Society 2004
>Summer School, Medical Physics Publishing, Madison Wisconsin.  Copies are
>available from the HPS for $55. 
>
>I would be happy to correspond further with you on this subject if you would
>be interested. I have been conducting workshops and writing papers on
>radiation risk communication for about 20 years. 
>
>Warmest regards,
>
>Ray Johnson, CHP, FHPS, PE, RSO
>Director
>Radiation Safety Academy
>481 N. Frederick Avenue, Suite 302
>Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877
>phone: 301-990-6006
>toll free: 800-871-7930
>fax: 301-990-9878
>http://www.RadiationSafetyAcademy.com 
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Flanigan, Floyd [mailto:Floyd.Flanigan at nmcco.com] 
>Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 8:42 AM
>To: Jose Julio Rozental; John Jacobus; radsafe; know_nukes at yahoogroups.com
>Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear power plants;radiological bombs not on top
>oflist of attacks
>
>Jose,
>The issue of psychological impact of such an event definitely needs to be
>addressed. Being both an author and a degreed radiation protection
>professional, perhaps I should write an informational book which would
>explain in layman's terms the reality of radiation and it's associated
>effects according to the true data at hand. My belief is that the lack of
>education on the matter, provided to the general public, is responsible for
>the fear and misconceptions which run rampant in the public view.
>Sensationalized movies, books etc. with little or no scientific basis are
>the only things most people have upon which to base their view of all things
>nuclear. If it was explained in plain english I believe many would have a
>higher level of comfort with the prospect of dirty bombs and the like. 
>
>So, let us have a micro poll ... Should I take the time to crank out this
>body of work or not? The need is clearly there but what type of reception
>should one expect when undertaking such a project?
>
>RadSafers sound off. If enough people want it to be written I'll take it
>under serious consideration.
>
>Floyd W.Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P.
>  
>