The Dutch Door Dilemma

[Charles Willis <CAW@nrc.gov>]

RADSAFERS:

Does anyone have more on the story that was reported in the February
"Nuclear Waste News" that a Dutch Physics Professor found that the
fire doors in the building where he worked were releasing radiation  at
levels of 0.8 microsieverts/hr (90 microrem/hr).  It also is said that under
Dutch law, the owner must have a license for such a door and that, if
disposed, the door must be disposed as radioactive waste.

This radiation level is a bit higher than that from the average piece of
granite, but low enough to raise some interesting questions, such as the
basis for the requirements, the lower limits of the requirements, etc. 
This brings to mind the papers we heard at a regional IRPA congress in
Portsmouth a few years ago, where Dutch health physicists were
pleading for a factor of ten relaxation in the requirements to avoid a
shutdown of the economy.  I would like to hear from someone who
knows what our Dutch friends are up to.

Charlie Willis
caw@nrc.gov