Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in museum building

Re:Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in m... by Pharmakon on Monday February 18, 2019 @06:30PM (#19195450)

On one hand this is criminal, stupid, and potentially dangerous behavior. If someone were directly exposed in such a way that they inhaled or swallowed some of the material their exposure could be very damaging. On the other hand this article uses a lot of comparisons between allowed safe exposure and this exposure, without an absolute metric to work with. From the picture with the estimated doses you’d get, were not talking about anything visitors should be concerned about.

If you were in direct contact with the contents of a bucket for an hour your total dose would be 8.2mSv. A more realistic hour in contact with the exterior of one of the buckets yields 2.8mSv. At five feet away from a bucket you’d get... nothing st all. For a visitor, this is not a problem although it’s also not ideal. You’re getting the equivalent of a full-body CT scan in the former case, but I somehow doubt anyone opened these buckets up and hugged the contents for an hour.

For reference 50mSv is the yearly acceptable exposure for nuclear plant workers, and someone working at this museum could have easily exceeded that if the contents of a bucket were disseminated in some way. In the absence of the contents being inhaled or eaten though, this isn’t a health risk. Stupid though... really stupid.

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Re:Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in m... by wahern on Tuesday February 19, 2019 @12:50AM (#19196911)

Most of the radioactivity from uranium ore comes from radium impurities, and radium decays to radon, a gas. So, yes, it's entirely plausible for there to have been in an inhalation hazard. Though if anyone should be concerned it's the staff, not the tourists.

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Re:Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in m... by iceninenines on Monday February 18, 2019 @07:40PM (#19195799)

Before you get on your high horse, you should realize that this is unlikely to be a real emergency. Uranium ore is around an order of magnitude more radioactive than bananas. These officials appear to be overreacting and you seem to be going along with it without evidence. Chemical hazards are much more of a concern if it's not encased in a sealed exhibit. That to me is "really stupid."

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in m... by Pharmakon on Tuesday February 19, 2019 @11:04AM (#19199876)

I don’t think you actually read what I wrote, because you’re more or less just repeating my point while telling me to “get off my high horse.” I’d suggest responding to what people actually said, especially if you’re going to be rude to make your “point.”

For your reference:

From the picture with the estimated doses you’d get, were not talking about anything visitors should be concerned about... In the absence of the contents being inhaled or eaten though, this isn’t a health risk. Stupid though... really stupid.

[ Parent | on HN ]