more on x-ray machines

["Roy C. Craft,CHP" <rcraft@wcnet.net>]

During startup of my last Power Plant, security had a rule that EVERYTHING
entering the plan by mail had to be x-rayed. To the guards on the gate this
included our dosimeters.

I had checked with a victoreen 470, and got an average of 10 micro r dose.
This was some 12 years ago, so they may have improved.

The dosimeters were not effected by the miniscule dose received.

We also checked the effect on computer disks going through the x-ray
machine.  The drive belt on some models had magnets in motors at the end of
the rollers.  The magnets will wipe out the magnetic disk media.

In the early days of digital watches, I had a friend whose new watch got
deprogrammed when he went through an old metal detector, most of us took our
watches off and ran them through the x-ray machine.
Roy C. Craft,CHP
rcraft@WCnet.Net




.....
After seeing some of the follow-up to this on RADSAFE, I should add that my
feeling this would be of interest was because of concern over film
overexposure,
etc. Not because I was intending to imply that airport x-ray machines were a
health hazard!

Mike
*****

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