Re[2]: give me your opinion

[Ian Fraser <igfraser@mc1adm.uwaterloo.ca>]

Immediate Danger to Life and Health
 

At 12:27 PM 28/01/99 -0600, you wrote:
>     What the heck is IDLH anyway?
>
>
>______________________________ Reply Separator 
>_________________________________
>Subject: Re: give me your opinion
>Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at guardian
>Date:    1/27/99 7:41 PM
>
>
>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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>
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Thanks in advance

Ian Fraser
Safety Office
University of Waterloo
200 University Ave. W.
Waterloo, ON 
Canada, N2L 3G1
mailto:igfraser@uwaterloo.ca
http://www.safetyoffice.uwaterloo.ca
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information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html