EPA Makes a Rad Decision

New submitter QuantumPion writes "The Environmental Protection Agency released draft guidelines last month that could significantly relax radiation hazard standards in the case of a radiological event in the United States by using risk-based decisions. The goal is to have limits that make sense in an emergency that are different from the limits in day-to-day life. From the article: 'Currently, the only guidance are the extremely strict standards that apply for EPA Superfund sites and nuclear plant decommissioning, which are as low as 0.010–0.025 rem/year, far below the natural background levels in the U.S. of 0.300 rem/year, and even well below the average amount of radioactive materials that Americans eat each year. And these guidelines aren’t really different from the 1992 PAG, except in the area of long-term cleanup standards and, perhaps, standards for resettlement. What’s the big deal here? As radworkers, we’re allowed to get 5 rem/year. 2 rem/year doesn’t rate a second thought. ... No one has ever been harmed by 5 rem/year, so setting emergency levels at 2 rem/year is pretty mild and more than reasonable. ... Think of it this way. The situations covered by these new guidelines are similar to someone dying of thirst who has the chance to drink fresh water having 2,000 pCi per gallon of radium in it. While the safe drinking water levels are 20 pCi/gal for Ra, 2,000 pCi/gal is of no threat, especially if you’re going to die from imminent dehydration. Of course, a bag of potato chips has 3,500 picocuries, so go figure.'"

Comments

Re: Well duh!

[FirstOne]

The fact that there is naturally occurring radioactivity does not mean it is safe to add more.

But it is a good indication that one can safely add more. As to the rest of your post,

No.. Our bodies regulate the levels of potassium, of which only 0.012% is the radioactive(K40) isotope with a half life of 1.248 Billion years. Any extra potassium you ingest, will result in an equal amount being expelled(sweat, urine, etc). thus the whole banana equivalence chart is bogus.

Meanwhile, radioactive Cesium-134 has a half life 2.06 years and decays with both Gamma and Beta emissions. Making it 10 trillion times more radioactive than potassium in a banana. And Cesium-137 has a half life of 30.167 years, with a Beta, and a 85% chance of gamma emission. Making it 638 billion times more radioactive than an equal amount of potassium.

It would be most wise to to avoid ingestion or inhalation of radioactive Cs isotopes. If it doesn't kill you with a cancer, the radiation can degrade your immune system, heart, digestive track, etc.

For me, I think the EPA' decision to shorten US residents useful lifespan by 2, 5, maybe 10 years after the next nuclear incident is justification for shutting ALL nuclear reactors down, NOW!! Why should you, me, anyone take that kinda of risk and give it away to billionaire stock holders for free. It's obvious that the US government is planning for another incident, maybe deliberately perhaps to save Social Security.

Just how many times do you need to get burned before learning not to play with fire?