ludicrous limits

[Keith Welch <welch@CEBAF.GOV>]

Jim, you said,
> ...The ludicrous part is buying and using detectors that operate at levels
that cost a lot to achieve and $millions in paying the 1000s of persons in the
>organization going thru the detectors, even without "false alarms". This is
>totally unrelated to any reasonable standard of risk (and that doesn't mean
>dose levels of risk to the individual, but a reasonable level of "risk" to
>just knowing that there's contamination). ......
>....I still see commitment to rad monitoring at levels that can be affected by
>simple capture of radon daughters on clothing as "ludicrous". :-) 
>

I won't argue the logic of the established release limits.  But I don't see
much relief from this level of control when it comes to things (i.e. people)
we are releasing to the environment.  The problem of radon daughters
interfering with a personnel frisk is not much different in my book than the
one of differentiating natural from "added" activity in any sample that you
are trying to say is "clean".


Keith Welch
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Newport News VA
welch@cebaf.gov
Ph: (757)269-7212
FAX:(757)269-5048