Re: Give Me You Opinion

[Mike Dempsey <mdempsey@lanl.gov>]

I agree with your response.  I do have a question about the UF6. Are you
concerned about the fluorine aspect?  The specific activity of U238 is
180,000 times less than Pu 239.  Assuming its all U235, then were talking
28000 time lower SA.  The biological half lives are 9-15 DAYS for U and 200
YEARS for Pu.  Inhaled U is not a major threat.

Of course my own opinion.

Mike Dempsey

At 05:07 PM 1/25/99 -0600, you wrote:
>I'm not a trained emergecy paramedic, or accident responder.  Just a
>knowledgeable HP with some first aid training and a Scoutmaster's "Be
Prepared"
>outlook.
>
>If I was in the room at the time, I'd probably opt to check out the patient.
>I'm assuming that the hazard posed by the burst cannister is going to be
>subsequent Pu inhalation and that I'm not worried about further explosions,
>shrapnel, oxygen deficient environment nor release of a gas which is going 
>to be
>an immediate hazard to life and health - I don't consider inhalation of
>resuspended Pu to be very likely an immediate hazard to life and health.  
>Now if
>we were dealing with UF6, I'd have a whole different opinion.
>
>My logic is that if the worker is in some kind of cardiac / respiratory
arrest,
>the only way you're going to perform CPR is without a respirator.  So my 
>initial
>reaction is to see about breathing, pulse, and then consider the merits of
>leaving him ormoving him to a somewhat cleaner area.  
>
>I think the question is a little like when I once asked a worker how much dose
>he would take to save someone's life.  I was looking for awareness of the
>guidance on dose for lifesaving actions.  I got a much more practical and 
>honest
>answer:  "Depends on how much I like the guy."
>
>
>Gene Carbaugh
>Internal Dosimetry
>Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
>gene.carbaugh@pnl.gov
>
>
>
>
>
>>From: 	Archer, Joe
>> Reply To: 	radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
>> Sent: 	Monday, January 25, 1999 2:39 PM
>> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
>> Subject: 	give me your opinion
>> 
>> This is the scenario. A Pu-239 waste canister (Average content 16 grams,
>> Max content 80 grams) burst open and knocks out a worker nearby. One
>> viewpoint is that a person should run to the workers side without
>> worrying about the potential airborne. A second viewpoint is that
>> respirators should be located in the immediate vicinity of the work area
>> and the attending person should take the 20-30 seconds required to don a
>> respirator before attending to the injured party. The crux of the issue
>> seems to be the weighted risk to the injured person of taking 30 seconds
>> to get to the person versus the potential risk to the attending person.
>> The first viewpoint assumes a 30 second delay is a greater risk to a
>> person in need of CPR versus the risk of diving into the potential plume
>> of a freshly burst container. The second viewpoint argues the need to
>> weigh both risks and concludes that the potential airborne is a greater
>> risk than a 30 second delay in attending to the injured party. 
>> 
>> So what viewpoint do you side with, one or two.
>> 
>> Thanx,
>> Joe
>
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