Re: X-Rays

[Stan McQueen <stan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 01:04 PM 03/26/2000 +0000, you wrote:
>Willem-Jan wrote:
>
>"Natural/background radiation at such high altitudes is probably a
>magnitude larger than X-ray fogging...."
>
>I hope you're wrong about that. The air crew would be wearing lead 
>underwear ... or perhaps you only fly Concorde WJ :-) I have a friend with 
>connections to the NRPB (National Radiological Protection Board) and next 
>time I see him I'll ask him. This could also make it risky to take film 
>into areas with lots of granite, like Cornwall, which are famous for 
>higher levels of background radiation.

Just an anecdote:
Many years ago, I used to know someone who worked for an oil company in 
Denver. His job was analyzing the rock cores from the drills. One of the 
tests they did was for radiation. Denver is at fairly high altitude (5280 
feet -- "Mile High City", all that stuff) and is also close to a large of 
volume of granite (speaking in popular terms, not geological ones)--the 
Rocky Mountains. All that combined to make the background radiation level 
higher than the radiation level of the cores. So they had a lead-lined room 
that they used to make the core radiation measurements in. One day an 
inspector of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration for those 
lucky enough not to have heard of them) came on a routine inspection. He 
asked what the lead-shielded room was for and was told. He then insisted 
that they mark it with the radiation trefoil warning sign since the room 
was used for radiation studies. It was no use explaining to him that the 
radiation inside the room, even with all the cores, was less than that 
outside. My friend said they put up the radiation warning sign along with 
another along the lines of "Warning: This room contains less than 
background radiation and may result in increased life expectancy for those 
who work herein."

Stan

=======================================
IR and other photos by Stan McQueen at http://www.smcqueen.com

*
****
*******
******************************************************
*  To remove yourself from this list, send:          *
*         UNSUBSCRIBE INFRARED                       *
*       to                                           *
*         MAJORDOMO@xxxxx                            *
*----------------------------------------------------*
*   For the IR-FAQ, IR-Gallery and heaps of links:   *
*  http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/mainpage.htm  *
******************************************************