Safe is not absolute - almost nobody will force you to make it absolute. You always have to couch a discussion on "safe" in some context that the parties can reach agreement on. The dictionary definition won't cut it. In our discussions with "the public" we should not be afraid to say that radiation exposure (within some range of doses) is safe. Our drinking water contains lead, mercury, radioactivity, arsenic, or whatever else. But people are capable of understanding that although there are harmful substances in the water, it is (hopefully) safe to drink. An important factor is what level of exposure we chose to say is safe. Someone has to make a judgement and define the standards for what is safe. Is that not our job? In effect, we have these standards in the form of dose limits. So, for instance if the dose limit for member of the public is 0.1 rem/y, then this dose is generally understood and agreed by the experts (us) to be safe. That does not have to mean that it is without risk. I've never met a person that could not understand this rationale. Everyone makes these decisions (usually without a lot of conscious thought), and therefore the public is capable of dealing with and understanding that process. And as long as that is true, the opportunity exists to bring about public understanding and acceptance of dose standards - and moreover, if the public understood it, the public at large might even support "relaxing" some of the more stringent, costly, and non-value-added limits. I just don't know if I'll live long enough to see anything like that.
--
Keith Welch
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Newport News VA
welch@jlab.org
Ph: (757)269-7212
FAX:(757)269-5048
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