Laserfiche WebLink
May 1997 <br /> To the Editor: <br /> Doctors cannot issue opinions based on rumor. We need <br /> to examine the patient for ourselves, or see reports from <br /> informed sources. In formulating our opinion regarding the <br /> advisability of building and operating the proposed <br /> irradiation facility, we did not visit the patient, but we <br /> read many documents from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, <br /> engineer's reports, and original news items. <br /> The amount of material was copious. Indeed, we could <br /> continue reading for many more months, for the complexity of <br /> constructing and operating an irradiation plant is <br /> staggering. The mayor and members of the county council <br /> have many matters to contend with, and none of them are <br /> doctors or engineers. It is highly unlikely that they fully <br /> understand the engineering, health, and safety issues <br /> involved. And yet, the mayor and several council members <br /> are promoting this facility based largely on the <br /> recommendation of those who would profit from it. Such a <br /> recommendation cannot be regarded as unbiased. And funding <br /> such a potentially hazardous and economically burdensome <br /> facility, without fully understanding the implications, is <br /> irresponsible. <br /> This ignorance is apparent in a statement made by the <br /> mayor following his testimony at the hearing. The mayor <br /> said that Dr. Cohen is irresponsible for opposing this <br /> plant because he uses gamma rays on his patients." The <br /> mayor does not appear to understand that the radiation <br /> planned for the Isomedix fruit treatment facility is <br /> '1,000,000 times stronger than the radiation used in an X-ray <br /> (100,000 rads vs. 1/LO of a rad). Nor does he seem to know <br /> that Cobalt-60 is not used by a single doctor or hospital in <br /> the state of Hawaii because there are safer alternatives. <br /> The mayor should not be promoting the irradiation facility <br /> if he lacks such basic knowledge, for without this knowledge <br /> <br /> he cannot know the ramifications of what he is promoting. <br /> According to official NRC Information Notices, there <br /> have been numerous equipment failures and safety violations <br /> at irradiation plants. In Israel, an operator died from <br /> acute radiation syndrome 36 days after an accident. In E1 <br /> Salvador, two workers had their legs amputated due to acute <br /> radiation exposure and burns. One of those workers died 197 <br /> days later. <br /> Other NRC reports indicate that several other <br /> irradiators have had their Cobalt-60 sources jam in the <br /> exposed position. This has resulted in fires, in,~~s~and 111..-~~ <br /> loss of life. <br /> get. 'tbi Presented <br /> Y1et. Ih~te MAY 0 7 1997 <br /> <br />