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Re: Paduca Pu
Very interesting point. While the resultant insult to the workers is a
tragedy, Dr. Janzow brings out some very good points. It is difficult for
some of us (myself included) to interpret actions and events from several
decades ago and to understand the pressures that helped to shape them.
James H. Reese
Health Physicist
(916) 689-2680 tel.
(916) 689-6270 fax
james.reese@worldnet.att.net
----- Original Message -----
From: <Janzow1@aol.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: Paduca Pu
> 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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