When working around any source of radiation, you have to where a small device called a dosimeter. This device measures the exposure to ionizing radiation so you can keep track of how much you’ve been exposed to. This is important due to the fact the damage this radiation causes is cumulative over time. What this means is if you are exposed to a unit of radiation for 1 minute you get dose “X”, and if you get exposed to that same unit of radiation for 10 minutes the dose could be 10 time as much.
There is no perfect science in determining radiation risk estimates or what damage chronic exposure (exposure over a long period of time) can do, but several agencies have pooled their collective knowledge and came up with something. ALARA – “as low as is reasonably achievable”. (Wow, that sounds like it’s based on solid research!) They also came up with a formula to keep you “safe”. I must add that this calculation’s basis is over 70 years old and although reviews are periodically done based on new evidence gathered, it has not changed for adult workers that are exposed to ionizing radiation.
5(n-18)
Basically, it’s your age (n), minus 18, times five. That’s how many rad you can be exposed to each year. So, if you’re 20, you can be exposed to 10 rad in a given year. Background radiation and medical exposure (x-rays or radiological medication) is not counted (sound science indeed!). This is not entertaining, but relevant. The logic behind this fact is as follows:
“If the individual worker accepts the risks associated with radiation exposure during medical treatment on the basis of the medical benefits and accepts the risks associated with job-related exposure on the basis of employment benefits, it would be unreasonable to restrict the worker from employment involving exposure to radiation for the remainder of the year.”
The problem is, nobody knows what the risks are for sure. Most of the people I met in the industry have no clue at all.
I got into this because you can make a lot of money. I was 21, worked three months and took a few months off before I had to go back to work again and was raking in about $75K/year – in the late 1980’s.
Here’s why I got out – people were selling piss to pass urinalysis testing (you have to be drug free in the nuke biz, imagine that!), and management was playing with the numbers to burn you out on the hottest (rad wise) tasks. If you are 21, you can take 15 rad/year, when you’re 22, you can take 20 rad/year. Here’s the loophole: If you are born late in the year (December) and you can still take 5 rad, you get put on the very hot jobs. They need to use you up. You’ll be a year older within the month, so you can take another 5. Not only that, January 1st starts the cycle all over – your bank account for rad exposure is full again.
You can legally get exposed to a lot of radiation in a very short period of time (acute exposure). I suffered a beta burn. Good thing a beta source only penetrates subcutaneous layers. That happened with just a couple minutes exposure through two thick industrial strength rubber gloves. Time to quit and head to Seattle.
Don’t believe what government agencies tell you without doing research. Most of the time, the people iterating the knowledge, have no idea what they are talking about.
When I was a kid, I thought adults had their shit together. They do not.
Hmmm…possible good lab rat material for research….my dad’s book on the theory of good radiation exposure has been accepted for publication. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis.
Who knows Dave if this holds you could outlive all of us for all that ionizing loveliness.
Now go get yourself an X-ray.
Wow! Interesting article on Wikipedia. That’s encroaching on Dr. David Banner territory!