Re: ALARA or Not?

[Bob Flood <bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

At 02:23 PM 4/30/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Lester Slaback stated the following:
>
>> I would also make another observation: Even for persons who have been
>> medically  qualified the respiratory stress of using a respirator (or the
>> ergonomic stress of a supplied air system) would seem to be excessive
>> compared to the incremental risk of mrem level internal exposures.
>
In addition to Sandy's comments about the "cultural" change this regulation
brought for experienced HPs, there has also been the matter of assessing
the value of wearing a respirator to protect a wearer from small potential
internal exposures against the impact on non-radiological hazards such as
vision restrictions when climbing, heat stress (ever worn a respirator
inside containment right after shutdown?), etc. Unfortunately, we regulate
radiation separately in the US, so including these factors in the decision
is not allowed. Is this a great country or what?


Bob Flood
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
(415) 926-3793     bflood@slac.stanford.edu
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone.