Badly Mis-quoted

[Lee Leonard <lleonard@lanl.gov>]

To All RADSAFER's:

I arrived at work today to find a RADSAFE posting containing statements
attributed to me from a newspaper article in the Bergen County Record
(Northern New Jersey).  This is a great example of why technical people
should never talk to journalists.  The reporter I talked to was named Jeff
Pillets.  If any of you ever get a call from this guy - hang-up!  I
consider him totally irresponsible as a journalist.  The quotes he
attributed to me are absolute nonsense. 

Yes, I am the Project Leader at Los Alamos for the Off-site Source Recovery
Project (OSRP).  And the project here is intended to eventually round-up
and return to DOE, excess and unwanted radioactive sealed sources which
exceed the limits of Class-C LLW.  In other words, the OSRP is gearing up
to accept these excess sources in an orderly manner over about the next ten
years, or until a time when a disposal site is available which will allow
licensees to send excess and unwanted sealed sources directly to disposal.  

Certainly this project is being undertaken in the interest of public health
and safety.  It is coordinated with the NRC and other cognizant agencies.
And, OSRP is intended to remove from the environment radioactive sources
that, "if improperly controlled, or illegally disposed of" could pose a
danger to people and the environment.  I don't think too much of this comes
through in Mr. Pillets' articles, and that is unfortunate because this is a
serious job that will be eventually accomplished by dedicated and informed
people.  I think Mr. Pillets' attempt to call attention to a genuine
problem so distorts the issues that he hinders rather than helps.  

On the other hand, the work of RADSAFERs and their continued flow of
information over the RADSAFE exchange does contribute to our work. If you
want to read about our project try: http://wmgt.lanl.gov/pdf/Factsheet.pdf

Lee Leonard
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