RE Imaginary Cancers

[VERNIG.PETER@FORUM.VA.GOV]

{Original Msg: 'Imaginary Cancers' from <root@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
{
{                                        - Captain Internal Dosimetry!
{
{                                      Imaginary Cancers
{
{Reply to John Huges at SONGS.
{
{I'll let someone else address the actual risk numbers, but it occurs to me
{that there is a hidden assumption in the wording this "anti-" person is using:
{
{"the repository radiation release standard associated with one excess cancer
{death for every 285 exposed individuals."  
{
{Incomplete English sentences notwithstanding, if I understand your subsequent
{discussion, this excess cancer risk is supposedly associated with a dose of
{100 millirem.  [All you linear hypothesis guys jump right in here!]   The
{underlying assumption is that a single human being on this planet would EVER
{get a dose that high from the repository.   I would be willing to bet a
{million dollars (or, at least a can of Coke) that by the time the repository
{is finished (if, indeed, it ever is) that a member of the public couldn't get
{a 100 millirem dose even if they WANTED to!!
{
{So be careful to split this "gentlemen's" argument into two parts:
{
{1.  The PROBABILITY of anyone ever getting a dose of this magnitude, and 
{
{2.  the "risk" associated with an additional deadly 100 millirem.
{
{Don't let these folks get away with the hidden assumption that people will
{actual receive doses of this magnitude!!!!!!!
{
{Aside -  Do any of these clowns live in Denver?  And if so, do they wear lead
{clothing?   Oops!  I forgot.  There I go again, mixing the deadly, immoral,
{effects of man-made radiation with the natural (and thereby harmless) effects
{of natural background radiation.
{
{Good luck!
{
{
 
 
Hey I live in Denver [actually Golden home of Coors Beer].  But in
order to help stem the tide of imigration please talk up the "
nearly twice as high background [actually I've seen numbers from
50% higher to 3 times higher depends on who's counting and what's 
included] of DEADLY radiation.
 
Note, it's Friday afternoon and we've had a "unintended deviation" and
there is a FIRM RULE here about attitude adjustment.
 
ICRP = International Commission on Radiation Protection
 
Someone else will have to clarify whether ICRP actually says anything
about excess cancer from 100 mrem.
 
Regards and TGIF
Opinions expressed here are not my employers and may not even be mine.
Peter Vernig, vernig.peter@forum.va.gov
 
 
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