NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/sci/energy/5646

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-20 | 2.8 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: sci.energy
Subject: Re: Notch another one up for the Greennazis
Date: 20 Nov 1992 18:28:14 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Lines: 42
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>,<[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
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In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Richard Stead) writes:
=In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John McCarthy) writes:
=> What is the source of your scenario about the microgram of Pu?  What
=> does it assume about the chemical state?  Does it take into account
=> eventual harm from the alpha radiation, or is it concerned with
=> chemical poisoning?
=
=Takes into account alpha damage.  Pu is a hazardous heavy metal, but you are
=correct that its heavy metal danger is much less than a lot of toxics.
=Chemical state is irrelevant to this scenario as long as a microgram is
=ingested or inhaled.  This is because it is estimated to take less than
=a nanogram of Pu to kill.

And a single cosmic ray can also kill you, if it happens to do just the right
damage.  So what's the point?

=That's only 1/1000th of that microgram
=that got ingested.  The body will not have much difficulty transporting
=that fraction to the bones, regardles of chemical compostion (unreactive
=oxide or whatever - a more reactive composition would simply mean that
=more than enough would be incorporated into the bone to kill).  A microgram
=of HCN is not sufficient to kill.

And what's the probability that a microgram of Pu will kill?  A reasonable
comparison would be between the LD50s of the two compounds.
=
=> What about Bernard Cohen's willingness to eat and breathe plutonium
=> oxide?  To be elected President of the Health Physics Society, he
=> certainly must be regarded by health physicists as an expert.
=
=And then he'd be a highly regarded health physicist with terminal
=leukemia.

With what probability?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: [e-mail] | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.