I recognize that my mind tends to inhabit a place that many folks don’t live in – in my world it is all about understanding and managing risk.  There are others like me.  We share thoughts and information – we share a common burden that others likely don’t spend much time thinking about day-to-day.

I get emails from others like me – emails that I am pretty sure are different than the emails that many folks get.  The other day I received an email entitled “Know Your Plutonium” – yeah, pretty sure that is not the norm for most folks.  I am not an expert in the subject of plutonium but my colleague who sent the email knows a fair amount about it (and he has ties back to North Dakota from back in the day – so I trust him that much more).

Plutonium is a hot topic these days, so today I will share with you the email from my colleague Rick Tobin for your information.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Through the decades of my career in the nuclear fuel cycle processes, I have heard far too often the labored, and uninformed cry, “Plutonium is the most toxic substance on earth. A speck in your lungs will kill you!”  I’m beginning to hear that woeful wailing again, regarding the nuclear plant crisis in Japan.  Prepare yourselves to face the maddening crowd who will throw that bombshell out in public meetings and demand to know what your emergency program is going to do to save them from plutonium poisoning. (You think I’m joking?  Tell me that by the middle of April.)

Rather than belabor the point of these misstatements, please prepare to counter such misinformation by doing a very brief reading at the following site (and if you like, go right to the part of the article “Toxicity and Health Effects.”:

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Plutonium

Now, do we want radioactive plutonium spread widely, in high concentrations, all over the environment?  No.  I don’t think anyone wants that.  I offer this brief information source so that my colleagues can deal with the lathered madness from those with little or no technical knowledge, or expertise, who are also typically the first ones to speak out with bald-faced assurance that they know what they are talking about.  I find that a speck of ignorance can be the most toxic material any of us will ever encounter.

Sincerely,
Rick Tobin

Thanks Rick for the information and the peace of mind it can offer to those who didn’t know how concerned they should be.  Any time you want to come back to North Dakota you are more than welcome. 😉

Day six hundred and thirty-two of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C