This post requires a little background in radiation protection. First timers, should read LNT is nonsense. Grays(Gy) are just the amount of radiation energy in joules deposited in a kg of tissue. Sieverts(Sv) are just grays multiplied by a bugger factor, called RBE, that attempts to account for the fact that some types of radiation produce worse damage per gray than others. That bugger factor is 1.0 for photons and electrons; 20.0 for alpha particles.
" Sieverts(Sv) are just grays multiplied by a bugger factor, called RBE, that attempts to account for the fact that some types of radiation produce worse damage per gray than others."
You can't determine the damage if you haven't measured it. Background radiation produces no damage and acute radiation produces a lot of damage.
What was measured in the 1970's was chromosome aberrations, which I agree is not a really great measure of damage. We now have the ability to count RIFs (radiation induced foci) which is much closer to the number of double strand breaks. The RBE's should probably be redone.
Hey Jack, I had an idea for an extra source of post inspiration. I have heard a podcast episode interviewing you (I think on Decouple) which I though was great.
At some point I may go searching for other podcast appearances and this made me think that if there are a number of them you could write posts featuring them and riffing on the core points or expanding on something that got missed
There are no other podcasts. When I listened to the Decouple conversation, I was aghast. The fractured syntax, the filler words, I realized I need to stick to the written word.
I sense a certain amount of insider humour in this post Jack. Surely anyone suggesting 250 millisieverts per day is just hunky dory could simply not be construed as being an anti-nuke. Especially so when most anti-nukes suggest that via the yet-unproven LNT hypothesis, even a single photon emission is a flat no-no. I'd be willing to bet that Geoff would allow that 2 Sv/day might be a titch risky.
To be clear, 250 mSv/d is roughly the doubling dose for endogenous DSB's. It is definitely NOT a hunky-dory dose rate. In chronic situations, we start detecting harm around 20 mSv/d. The Gordian Knot News agrees with the pre-1950 NCRP and ICRP that 1 mSv/d is tolerable, there will no detectable harm. See
" Sieverts(Sv) are just grays multiplied by a bugger factor, called RBE, that attempts to account for the fact that some types of radiation produce worse damage per gray than others."
You can't determine the damage if you haven't measured it. Background radiation produces no damage and acute radiation produces a lot of damage.
What was measured in the 1970's was chromosome aberrations, which I agree is not a really great measure of damage. We now have the ability to count RIFs (radiation induced foci) which is much closer to the number of double strand breaks. The RBE's should probably be redone.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21797809/
I would be surprised that 4 mGy in one day has the same effect as two wiew mammography.
Hey Jack, I had an idea for an extra source of post inspiration. I have heard a podcast episode interviewing you (I think on Decouple) which I though was great.
At some point I may go searching for other podcast appearances and this made me think that if there are a number of them you could write posts featuring them and riffing on the core points or expanding on something that got missed
Smopes,
There are no other podcasts. When I listened to the Decouple conversation, I was aghast. The fractured syntax, the filler words, I realized I need to stick to the written word.
Hey, speak to the plebes! Titans of Nuclear, Rod Adams... CNN 🥸
I sense a certain amount of insider humour in this post Jack. Surely anyone suggesting 250 millisieverts per day is just hunky dory could simply not be construed as being an anti-nuke. Especially so when most anti-nukes suggest that via the yet-unproven LNT hypothesis, even a single photon emission is a flat no-no. I'd be willing to bet that Geoff would allow that 2 Sv/day might be a titch risky.
Ike,
To be clear, 250 mSv/d is roughly the doubling dose for endogenous DSB's. It is definitely NOT a hunky-dory dose rate. In chronic situations, we start detecting harm around 20 mSv/d. The Gordian Knot News agrees with the pre-1950 NCRP and ICRP that 1 mSv/d is tolerable, there will no detectable harm. See
https://jackdevanney.substack.com/p/the-case-for-1-msv-per-day
Thanks for the clarification Jack.