how we spend our time

[hwade@triax.com (H. Wade Patterson)]

Group:
For those of you who may be interested in the elements that control the
nature and extent of current radiation safety programs among DOE
contractors there's a report on this topic on the Web. It's at:

http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/05publications/UCRL-ID-126753.html
A bibliography of human response to radiation exposure is included as an
appendix 

Questionnaires were sent to ten DOE-DP contractors including those
belonging to the Albuquerque, Nevada, and Savannah River Operations
Offices. In addition, at the Midyear HPS meeting in San Jose there was a
panel discussion on the same topic with participants from Brookhaven
National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Kansas State
University, and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

The contractors and panel participants were asked what changes, if any,
would they make in their programs if the recommendations in the HPS
Position Statement were to be adopted. i. e., " the Health Physics
Society recommends against quantitative estimation of health risk below
an individual dose of 5 rem in one year, or a lifetime dose of 10 rem in
addition to background radiation."

There was essentially unanimous agreement that any changes would be
minor and limited to the training area. From the answers and the
discussion it appears that ALARA considerations, legal requirements and
contamination control, drive the time and effort expended. In brief,
under today's rules, guides, and regulations, only a minor part of the
time and effort expended goes for the actual protection of workers.

-- 
Wade

mailto:hwade@triax.com

H.Wade Patterson
1116 Linda Lane
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ph 541 947-4974