Re: NRC Inspectors are Non Essential

[avest@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Albert Lee Vest)]

>After all, without them there's no us.  

You mean, if Congress were to repeal or amend the Atomic Energy Act (AEA)
and de-regulate by-product material, institutions would disband their
radiation safety committees and liquidate their radiation safety offices?
If that's true, then what has operating under the regulatory framework of
the last 50 years done for the safety culture of research institutions?

If our interactions with clients are characterized by "We have to do this,
or require you to do it, just to avoid violating our license (or
regulations); nobody is really any safer because of it", I don't think we
can expect them to suddenly see us as a central clearinghouse of useful
radiation safety information, or of expert assistance in designing
experiments or dealing with unusual situations, or a repository of
institutional calibration sources.

In a way, NRC is to blame for implementing AEA the way they have done.  But
there's enough blame for ourselves too.  Some RSO's have been designing
their operations around licenses and regulations, as if these would be
around forever. If de-regulation occurs, their offices will sadly find their
way to the budgetary chopping block real fast.

Have I been pontificating?  Slap me back to my senses.  I'm only an HP!

Albert Lee Vest           The Ohio State University
Health Physicist    Room 103 1314 Kinnear Road Bldg
(614)292-1284                     1314 Kinnear Road
avest@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu   Columbus OH 43212
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