Scrap metal recycling -Reply

[Michael S Ford <MFORD@pantex.com>]

Phil,

I think I'm going to have to agree with Barbara on this one.

When you ask "Why should the public take on any additional risk,
no matter how trivial ...?", how much will this "riskless" utopian
society cost the individual taxpayer?

How can you distinguish an annual risk from 10 mrem/yr from
making a choice on which road to drive in the morning? (which
probably carries a mortality risk a couple orders of magnitude
higher). Or walking on an icy sidewalk? Or spending a day on the
beach with no sunscreen?

If John Q Public had to carry around a few bars of Uncle Sam's
melted-down scrap metal waste 24 hours a day, then as a
profession, the HP's should probably raise some concerns about
that practice.   BUT... we already accept materials in our homes
TODAY that would give the same response on the GM counter as
Mr. Menon's "Fordolet".  Are we being harmed by this activity?  NO!

Pandering to the public's fears in this area would be a shameful
practice and should be identified as such.

I think you'll find that your concept of "no additional risk" -- as
esoteric and multi-variate as it may be --- is much more expensive to
a society than one of an "INFORMED and acceptable risk."

My own personal/non-corporate thoughts,
v/r
Michael
mford@pantex.com
TX Radiation Advisory Board

>>> Phil V. Egidi  wrote on Tue 4 May 99  17:05 >>>
... It is my understanding that the doses being considered are from 1
- 10 mrem/year per item... This will be an interesting test of
justification of new practices.  Why should the public take on any
additional risk, no matter how trivial in some people's opinion, ....
>>>>>>>>>

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