Re: units

[William V Lipton <liptonw@dteenergy.com>]

I second your opinions, Sandy.  I am astounded that a RADSAFE member would use the
logic that, since it didn't take much effort to change the color of id badges, it
obviously won't take much effort to convert to SI.  Give me a break!

The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.

Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com


Sandy Perle wrote:

> Mike Stabin stated:
>
> > However, I hear this was done very quickly at a major national laboratory
> > for a much more trivial problem - when Hazel O'Leary thought the use of pink
> > and blue ID badges for different levels of security was sexist.  Procedures
> > were reformulated, manuals were rewritten, new badges were issued, very
> > quickly, job done.
>
> In my opinion, based on 22 years at FPL, the revisions required if
> and when the units are changed, would be quite extensive. While Mike
> provides an example above, changing the units is a more significant
> change, and the number of procedures that would require modification
> would have a more severe impact on all nuclear utilities. As was
> pointed out previously, not only will procedures require revision, so
> will Tech Specs, FSAR etc. All one needs to do is talk to those
> responsible for changing a few plant procedures involving a simple
> change, such as relocation of the Radiation Controlled Access point,
> where dosimetry is picked up, or dropped off, or, if the individual
> is allowed to bring their dosimetry off-site. The amount of effort
> and cost is staggering. Multiply that by all of the reactor sites,
> and you're talking astronomical $$.
>
> > I would argue that working with the current dual system of units is worse
> > and more confusing.  This was seen many times during the Chernobyl incident,
> > we had various people reporting results in SI and antediluvian units, and
> > everyone was more confused.  In the medical arena, we have the inherent
> > risks which have always been there with problems such as the confusion of
> > prefixes (e.g. micro and milli), now we have factors of 3.7, 37 and others
> > that can be misapplied when working quickly, often to the patient's
> > detriment.
>
> We in the USA, the majority of us, don't need to work the dual
> systems. Therefore, there really is no impact on 95% of us. Having
> attended many meetings around the world, including the most recent
> IRPA Central European Congress held in Budapest, there was no
> difficulty in converting between the two systems. Being able to
> comprehend the data is one thing .. changing all of the
> infrastructure to use the new systems is a totally different animal.
>
> The bottom line that still must be answered, which I stated yesterday
> ... What is the overall benefit gained? How much are we willing to
> spend to make this happen? What are the consequences if we don't
> change anything? I'd say the benefit is small, the cost is too great
> with no added dose reduction or dose prevention for the masses, and
> finally, there are no consequences if we change nothing. The fact
> that many countries have changed, some over 20 years ago makes my
> point. There are many who do use the SI units, and there are some who
> use the traditional units. We all read scientific texts, we all
> attend meetings, we all attending conferences overseas, and yet, we
> continue to operate one of the finest nuclear programs in the world.
> Yes, more training is needed to perfect our own programs here in the
> USA, but let's not make that task any more difficult by confusing the
> majority of workers who really don't care about units, but have
> formulated in their own minds what is acceptable, and what is not.
>
> Sandy Perle
> E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
> Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
>
> "The object of opening the mind, as of opening
> the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
>               - G. K. Chesterton -
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