Re: X-rays -Reply

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 15:07 09.12.1998 -0600, you wrote:
>Franz,
>
>Your comment was interesting but I could not help wondering just how clearly
>Austrian regulations outlaw radiation exposure "except for medical
purposes." 
>Since all real objects are radioactive and every action and every inaction
involves
>radiation exposure, just how do your regulators handle matters?
>
>Charlie Willis

Yes, Charlie, this really is a serious problem, but we are working hard on
it. There is a certain group of scientists in Austria which is said not to
take things serious enough as such matters like the deadly radiation should
be taken. So we have proposed that it should be forbidden to sell any food
which contains K-40 and all food should before sale undergo treatment with
the "potassium-40 separator". In order to prevent nuclear electricity to be
imported into our "nuclear energy free" Austria we proposed that at the
border all electricity would have to pass the "nuclear electricity
separator", which would let enter only clean non nuclear generated
electricity and would send back the dirty nuclear generated one. When a
standard for treating nuclear medicine waste was proposed and several
categories of radioisotopes for decay purposes were defined, we urged that
in the category of radioisotopes with half life longer than (I think) 1
year K-40 should be explicitely mentioned or even better separate decay
tanks for K-40 should be installed..... We have also proposed to minimize
the impact of cosmic rays to airplane passengers by introducing an
obligatory shielding for the airplane of not less than 10 cm of lead. This
would very effectively reduce the cosmic ray impact, because the airplane
could never lift off....

To be serious: I guess my comment should read "deliberately" or "planned"
exposure, but since I do not have access at the moment to our radiation
protection law I am not sure whether it is written in it in such a way. 

Finally one should not forget a traditional and conservative method to
check whether a suspect is smuggling drugs in his/her stomach: Laxatives
and waiting. Then one would have followed the ALARA principle. 

Regards,

Franz
Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at

Office:
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Department of Radiochemistry
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-40 491 520
Fax.: +43-1-40 491 540
e-mail: schoenhofer@baluf.via.at
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