wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (02/27/84)
You can add to the total 250mren if you work in Penn Central station in New York. It has been discovered that the radiation level in the station is 250 mrem/year for people who work in the building. This is supposed to be the highest for any building known, outside the obvious places. This is due, they think, to the granite used to build the place. SCRATCH THE FIRST LINE> it should read Grand Central Station. I got it mixed up with where the sniper is hiding out this week. Anyhow, the radiation is supposed to be equal to 10 chest xrays per year. They have not looked into any side effects that I know of, however, since the place is old and many people have been working there for 30 or 40 years, there might be some interesting work to be done here. Just thought I'd pass this tidbit along. There was a news program about local radiation problems last week on the teely. T. C. Wheeler
jlg@lanl-a.UUCP (03/03/84)
You left out proximity to coal powered plants and other industries that burn fossil fuels. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently was asked to test for radiation around such plants and thier findings were that if these plants had been nuclear they would have to be shut down. Fossil fuels (especially coal) contains trace ammounts of radio- active materials which are part of the effluent from the plants.
bitmap@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA (03/07/84)
From March, 1984 Science Digest (without permission)
ESTIMATE YOUR ANNUAL EXPOSURE TO RADIATION Annual Dose
(mrem)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*Where You Live*
Location: Cosmic radiation at sea level.......................26
For your elevation (in feet)--add this number of mrem
1000-2 4000-15 7000-40
2000-5 5000-21 8000-53
3000-9 6000-29 9000-70.................................__
From the ground (dirt): U.S. average..........................26
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*What You Eat, Drink, and Breathe*
Food
Water U.S. average...................................24
Air
Weapons-test fallout...........................................4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*How You Live*
X-ray and radiopharmaceutical diagnosis
Number of chest X-rays___x10................................__
Number of lower gastrointestinal tract X-rays____x500.......__
Number of radiopharmaceutical exams___x300..................__
(average dose to U.S. population = 92 mrem)
Jet plane travel: for each 2500 miles add 1 mrem..............__
TV viewing: For each hour per day___x0.15.....................__
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*How Close Do You Live to a Nuclear Plant*
At site boundary: ave. number of hours per day___x0.2.........__
One mile away: ave. number of hours per day___x0.02...........__
Five miles away: ave. number of hours per day___x0.002........__
Over 5 miles away.......................None..........
-------------------------------------------------------------------
My annual dose in mrem= ___
Compare your annual dose to the U.S. annual average of 180 mrems