RE: Landauer's New Badge

["Fleming, Kenneth" <knflemin@bechtel.com>]

I may be getting into the debate a bit late and don't mean to be
confrontational with anyone other than my management, but if the dosimeter
truely has the sensitivity to detect 1 mrem then use it.  I mean for those
of us (myself included) that place a "0" in the individual's annual report
are assuming (making a WAG) that M = 0 . . . well it doesn't.  We can safety
assume that in a court of law, even a bad prosecuting attorney would ask the
professional HP "what the "M" is?" and the answer would be "A result below
the detection level (say 10 mrem deep dose)."  The next question would be
"Can you assure my client that the exposure was 0 (or 1, 2, . . . or 9)?"
and the answer would be "no".

Yea the politics may not be great for management to swallow, but our defense
against litigation due to external exposures has gone up drastically with
the use of such devices.  On the otherhand, our defense for litigation
coming from an indivdual with internal exposure(s), is a loaded gun waiting
to be shot at each of us that run a program.  As Ken Skrable told me about
this time last year, "You're limited by the amount of data you have."  In
effect the more data the better (and more accurate the model and result).

We should be much less concerned about the trivial recorded exposures (12
months x 9 mrem/month) that we may be (are) missing now as compared to
internal exposures that we are not even identifying as occurring because
work environments are not effectively being characterized.

The above are my opinions alone. 

Kenny Fleming CHP CSP
FUSRAP Radiological Control Supervisor
knflemin@bechtel.com
(423) 220-2306
(423) 220-2464 FAX


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Tony LaMastra [SMTP:alamastra@enter.net]
> Sent:	Wednesday, September 09, 1998 9:24 PM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	Re: Landauer's New Badge
> 
> Bob:
> 
> This is a serious consideration for my one client, a major user of TLD.  
> Most of the people are used to seeing the good old, "M" and equate it to
> zero.   When someone receives a 10, 20, or 30 (which somehow seems to
> occur
> when the dosimeters are hardly used), they become upset at "receiving
> radiation dose".   I asked if there was any chance that Landauer would use
> a "threshold" for those customers whop wanted one and was told "no".   For
> those clients of mine that do not want the "fine sensitivity", I am
> recommending staying with the old TLD technology.   I have been told by
> one
> client who uses film, that he was told by Landauer that by 2000, Landauer
> would only supply the new OSD's.   He is now checking out ICN.   I think
> Landauer should re-examine their marketing strategy.
> 
> 
> Tony LaMastra
> alamastra@enter.net
> 
> ----------
> > From: Ryanchp@aol.com
> > To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
> > Subject: Re:  Landauer's New Badge
> > Date: Wednesday, September 09, 1998 7:56 PM
> > 
> > Radsafers,
> > 
> > Landauer is promoting a new Al(2)O(3) personnel monitoring badge which
> they
> > claim will see 1 mrem and it will be reported.  Does any other Radsafers
> feel
> > uncomfortable with this new lower sensitivity?  It appears capable of
> creating
> > new problems with exposed personnel who have never received an exposure
> and
> > now they will see the 
> > 1 to 9 mrems on their monthhly reports rather than the "m" and 12x this
> on
> > their yearly report.
> > 
> > 
> > Bob Ryan
> > ryanchp@aol.com
> > ************************************************************************
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