Re: give me your opinion

[Mike Dempsey <mdempsey@lanl.gov>]

1) Once again, is you became sick from inhaling Pu, it would be 10-30 YEARS
later. If you needed chelation or lung lavage it could be arranged (Very
unlikely).

2) We are not talking IDLH atmosphere here, we are talking airborne Pu.

3) When you say toxicity, do you mean from heavy metal?  Or radioactivity?
So a battery bursts open and knocks your partner out in the same room as
you.  Do you need a APR to respond? From the acid fumes or lead?  Neither.

4) I am appalled how you tied a non-nuclear event (IDLH atmosphere in a
manhole)  to this and any nuclear plant.  Why didn't you bring up a IDLH
manhole at a pet food factory instead?

5) This has strayed from the subject.

My own opinion.

Mike Dempsey

At 11:08 PM 1/25/99 -0600, you wrote:
>If the radiological aspect of this hypothetical accident is the only concern,
>a respirator would just get in the way.  
>
>However,  I've always been told the toxicity of plutonium is the far greater
>hazard.  If this is true, we don't need any dead heroes.  Use the respirator.
>
>This reminds me of an occurrence in the 70's.  A new nuclear station was under
>construction across the parking lot from the one where I was working.  When a
>supervisor went to check on one of his workers, he looked into a manhole into
>an underground conduit where the worker was doing some cleanup using a
>solvent.  The supervisor saw his worker lying at the bottom and hurried down
>the ladder to check on him.  They lost two men that day.  The worker and the
>supervisor.
>
>Wear the respirator and whatever else you think you need to be safe.
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