Re: Paduca Pu

[Janzow1@aol.com]

           There are several  factors which seem to be forgotton or ignored 
in the discussions related to this "incident".
             !. This plant was a part of the nuclear weapons complex during 
the '50's,
60's and 70's, i.e., the period of interest.  Those who worked in such 
facilities in those times were restriced in their access to all classified 
inormation to only such information as they had a "need to know", "need to 
know" being defined  as that information necessary do do one's job, and NO 
more.  This was for national security reasons.  While  younger persons today 
may question the validity of this practice, those of us who lived through the 
cold war and who worked in these facilities at the time considered these 
restrictions on information as reasonable, acceptable, and  necessary under 
the circumstances.  I still do.  That Pu was present in the material being 
worked was very likely to have been classified at the time.
            2.   The field of "health physics" is a living field, with 
criteria of acceptability which changes as knowledge increases.  Some levels 
of exposure which were considered acceptable and safe in the 50's and 60's, 
based on then-current knowledge and risk-benefit guesses, became unacceptable 
in the 70's or 80's, and horrible in the 90's.  Has anyone checked levels of 
acceptability at the time, and compared them with leveles present in the 
plant?

             Edward F. Janzow, Ph.D. (Nuclear Engineering)
                  janzow1@aol.com
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