Re: MDL and Dose Effects - opinionated response

[slaback@micf.nist.gov]

I do not know about DoE, but under NRC rules
the number to be recorded (and hence in most
cases the place the badge is to be worn) is
the point of highest exposure.  The interesting
question is 'What portion of the total person-rem
among occupationally exposed persons is highly
non-uniform'?  My suspicion is that this is a
big number, and hence the data creates unknown
uncertainities for any future epidemiology studies.
This probably was not true in the past.

There is no requirement to record or be able to
construct an 'effective dose'.  And at the
facilities I am familiar with it is unlikely that
this could be done retrospectively.  Hence the
radiation badge serves only one purpose, to 
demonstrate compliance with regulations.

Note that this is another defense for the 5 rem
'regulatory limit'.  It is an artificial limit,
not (in most cases) a real people dose limit.

A little risk adds spice to life.
Lester.Slaback@NIST.gov