Re: radiation from nuclear power reactors

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@sfu.ca>]

> 	If you demonstrate natural radiation with a GM counter don't forget
> to mention that the typical adult contains about 9 kBq of natural
> radiation. This gives about  a half million disintegrations per second.
> 	This is my first contribution to this list server. I was originally
> a nuclear physicist (1952-58) since then I have been in medical physics. If
> I can provide information about radiation to any readers, please feel free
> to contact me directly. Best wishes for 1998!  John Cameron

Your expertise and your contributions are most welcome in this group,
John. I will nit pick to point out that 9 kBq (a unit which was
invented by a committee in the utter absence of a need for such a
unit) represents half a million disintegrations per *minute*, not per
second. A becquerel (Bq) is one disintegration per second. It
eponymously and gratuitously displaces a French-Polish couple to make
room for a pedigreed Frenchman, in the process making errors of this
sort more common.

Leigh