Pu in groundwater thread

[Philip Hypes <phypes@nis5.lanl.gov>]

Drew Thatcher wrote:

" It does not take an hp to figure out that such a low concentration does
not pose
a risk to human health...I, for one, would like more information about the
potential
quantities that could be transported via such a mechanism.  Once this
extrapolation
were made - then I would expect an hp involved in assessing the impact."

True, it should (key word) not take an HP to tell that femtocuries of Pu
are not
harmful.  But it will probably take an HP, and preferably one who has been
trained
in risk communication techniques, to explain that fact to a public that has
been
told that Pu is the most deadly substance on earth.  "If one alpha particle
can kill,
and this site is releasing billions of atoms that emit alpha particles,
we're all going
to die!!!!," or so a media sponge could be led to believe.  I would also
like more
information about the quantities involved, and as the quantities rise, so
would the
need for extensive HP analysis.  Go out on a busy street and ask 20 randomly
selected individuals which is smaller, a femtocurie or a microcurie.  I bet
you most
of them would choose the microcurie.

I hope it is obvious that these are strictly my own opinions.  I refer, of
course, to the
traditional and commonly accepted definition of "is."

Phil "War Whoops" Hypes

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