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RE: Estimating doses from criticality accidents



Doug,

No apology is necessary in this case, at least on my part.  While the events
in Japan may not rate as a tragedy in the normal sense, I believe the word
to be accurate here anyway.  What we have in this accident is something that
we should all learn from.  The situation that led to this event represents a
tragedy that could happen anywhere.  These workers were set up for failure,
they did not act alone. The lack of information and training provided to
them regarding the hazards that they were working with apparently created a
false sense of safety and security, which resulted in an unquestioning
confidence in the system in place.

I agree with Bernie that this accident is similar in consequences to many
other industrial accidents that occur all of the time.  I do not agree that
that lessens the importance of this event, nor does it mean that we should
not pay close attention to it and its frightful consequences.

This accident is a perfect example of what concerns me regarding the
direction that I see us moving towards in the Department of Energy, and
perhaps in the nuclear industry in general.  In order to simplify training
and reduce its cost, I perceive that we are underemphasizing the teaching of
the risks involved in working with radiation and fissile material, and
overemphasizing the procedural processes of accomplishing the work at hand.
If workers are given a mindset that radiation is not as bad as its been made
out to be, then adherence and compliance with procedures and requirements
becomes optional, and complacency sets in.  There truly is a technical basis
for WHY we do things the way we do, but this is being lost in the shuffle.
When the workforce loses that understanding, then  we have lost the battle.

If we do not learn from such a strong example of what can happen when the
understanding is lost, then the tragedies will continue.  Stick with us,
Doug, and let us all learn together.

Doug Minnema, Ph.D., CHP
Defense Programs, DOE
<Douglas.Minnema@ns.doe.gov>

what few thoughts i have are truly my own

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	g2v13a@swbell.net [SMTP:g2v13a@swbell.net]
> Sent:	Monday, November 08, 1999 9:45 PM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	Re: Estimating doses from criticality accidents
> 
> May I offer an apology to the "list" for my
> inappropriate use of the word "tragic" ?
> 
> If my attempt to learn from others more
> knowledgeable than myself about events
> that are not reported with great accuracy
> or detail in the news media is inappropriate
> in this forum, then I apologize and ask to
> be removed from the list before I offend
> others with my poorly phrased questions.
> 
> Doug J.
> g2v13a@swbell.net
> -------------------------------------------------
> Bernard L Cohen wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 4 Nov 1999 g2v13a@swbell.net wrote:
> >
> > > My thanks to Tosh Ushino, Douglas Minnema, and David Whitfil - you are
> helping a
> > > "medical-type" understand the tragic events of a few weeks ago [and
> the drama
> > > still unfolding].  You are welcome to my part of the bandwidth.
> >
> >         What is so extraordinarily "tragic" about these events? Dozens
> of
> > workers are killed every day in industrial accidents in U.S. alone. Over
> a
> > hundred are killed every day in motor vehicle accidents. This accident
> > involved 3 people who made a very serious mistake and are suffering for
> > it. Our hospitals contain perhaps a million people who are suffering
> from
> > problems that are not of their own making.
> >
> >
> > Bernard L Cohen
> > University of Pittsburgh
> > Pittsburgh, PA 15260
> > Tel: (412)624-9245
> > Fax: (412)624-9163
> > e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu
> >
> > ************************************************************************
> > The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
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> 
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