Re: Radiation Units

[Ludwik Kowalski <kowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

Suppose the dose rate in an airplane is 10 times higher than
on the earth surface; this is probably an exaggeration (?). In
that case a pilot flying 24 hrs and 7 days per week would get
~200*10=2000 mR = 2 R per year. What fraction of the year
is a typical pilot flying? I am sure it is well below 10%.
Therefore, my inclination is to think that the additional
dose due to flying is not excessive. But this is only a
Fermi-like guess. Are my assumptions wrong?
Ludwik Kowalski

Bernard Cleyet wrote:

> "..... The "permissible yearly dose," for radiologists
> and other professional people, is now 5 R per year. It
> used to be much larger. The dose most of us receive
> from natural sources (cosmic rays, etc.) is typically
> about 200 mR. For that reason the "legally permissible
> yearly dose" for general population (from man-made
> sources) is now close to 200 mR."
>
> An NPS Physicist has suggested the airlines industry is violating the law
> by subjecting long haul pilots to considerably more than the legally
> permissible annual dose.
>
> He suggested that making pilots radiation workers might be a fix.   I
> suspect  even 5 R permitted is too low.
>
> bc
>
> P.s. The U (UC)  is cautious; their limits are half all those applicable.
>
> Ludwik Kowalski wrote:
>
> > Hi Tina:
> > Let my try to make sense out of it. Historical approach is
> > probably the best in this case. I will not consult books for
> > numbers or conversion factors.
> >
> > 1) It started in 1920's when it was discovered that, on the
> > average, English radiologists died earlier than other doctors.
>
> cut