Re: Commisioner Dicus' Speech

[rkathren@tricity.wsu.edu (Ron L. Kathren)]

Would like to avail myself of your offer to provide the complete text of
Commissioner Dicus' speech.  My e-mail address is:

                              rkathren@tricity.WSU.edu

Many thanx,

Ron Kathren


>	NRC Commissioner Greta Dicus recently took the opportunity of addressing 
>a meeting "oriented to nuclear power plant issues" (Regulatory Information 
>Conference, April 2, 1997), to make comparisons between nuclear power plant
and 
>other radioactive materials programs.  Commissioner Dicus told the largely 
>nuclear power audience that:  the average U.S. nuclear power plant worker dose 
>is less than that of some categories of materials licensee workers; that while 
>NRC has no record of any nuclear power plant operation or incident causing an 
>exposure to the public exceeding regulatory limits, "there is a history of 
>radioactive materials incidents that have resulted in overexposures of members 
>of the public," and that "some of these overexposures were of sufficient 
>magnitude to cause acute radiation injuries."
>
>	The examples given of this history are a 1979 industrial radiography 
>accident, the 1992 Indiana, Pennsylvania brachytherapy source incident, and a 
>1996 Texas incident in which radiography cameras were stolen.  In the 1979 
>incident a dislodged radiography source caused localized radiation injuries to 
>several people.
>
>	Another materials licensee problem reviewed by Commissioner Dicus is 
>loss of control over radiation sources (gauges), and "virtually all of the 
>cases" are described as involving sources, or devices containing sources.  She 
>did note, however, that contaminated metal scrap was improperly released
from a 
>U.S. nuclear power plant in 1997.
>
>	The Commissioner also mentioned to this nuclear power-oriented audience, 
>that NRC will continue to regulate the use of nuclear materials in medicine
and 
>"is willing to expand its regulatory responsibilities to include higher risk 
>activities involving the use of other sources of radiation in medicine."  She 
>gave no information on how NRC proposes to implement this expansion,
however, or 
>whether anyone wants them to do so.  This seems a peculiar topic to broach to 
>this audience in any case.  
>
>	This strikes us overall as a very unusual speech to give to such an 
>audience.  We are also puzzled by the repeated comparisons of the selected 
>safety records of nuclear power vs. non-nuclear power licensees, which seem
very 
>much apples and oranges given the differences in the sources used, and in how 
>they are used.  We wonder what the point of the speech was:  to make power
plant 
>folk feel that they are performing better than other materials licensees, to 
>spread the word about NRC's plans for expansion?  If it was the latter,
perhaps 
>a group oriented toward radiation medicine would have been a more appropriate 
>and productive audience for this speech.  
>
>	A copy of the full speech can be found in NRC "News Releases" of April 
>4, 1997.  We could also send you a copy if you E-mail us your mailing
address.  
>     
>*******************************************************************
>Rita Aldrich                  "Rad. Health Unit"<raldrich@emi.com>
>Principal Radiophysicist       voice:    518-457-1202
>NYS Dept. of Labor             fax: 518-457-5545
>Radiological Health Unit      
>Blg. 12, Rm 457
>State Office Campus
>Albany, NY 12240
>********************************************************************
>
>