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Show Letters from our readers Dear Sam: I'm taking this opportunity oppor-tunity to pass some information along concerning con-cerning our ambulance and it's crew. Until a few weeks ago, I was not aware of the full story involving this great service. ser-vice. Mac became seriously ill in the middle of the night and had lost a considerable amount of blood, making it impossible impossi-ble for me to take him to town in a car. The doctor ordered the ambulance for him, although we live out an hour's drive from town. I was, of course, very nervous about Mac's condition con-dition and felt greatly relieved when the ambu- lance arrived and the crew went to work on him. The crew consisted of Larry Ing, Dave Engleman and Randy Squires. They were all so well trained, professional pro-fessional in their handling of Mac and so very considerate that I immediately immedi-ately felt that all would be fine; and was grateful that we had been able to hire such excellent personnel. On the way to town, I learned that these men were not "hired" - they are volunteer! They go on a 24 hour call and are available for whatever comes up and there's no pay. The ambulance is eauirjped with all the necessary items - they immediately began giving Mac IV and had contact with the hospital all the way in so that his condition was known to the personnel there and they would be prepared for him. Without this ambulance and it's extremely fine crew, I'm sure that Mac wouldn't have made it. I wish to make a public "thank you" to these three fine men and to all the other crews that take their turns in this work -they are very special persons! Mac received the usual wonderful care at the hJSpital, too - how very fortunate we are to have such great medical facilities facil-ities in Moab! For our tax dollars, I put the hospital at the top of the list and hope that whatever is needed there or for the ambulance and it's crew, jjthat we see that they get 7 it! I Alice McKinney jiDear Sam: J I feel your article ) concerning the neutralization neutraliza-tion of radiation, published pub-lished September 28, 1978, is deserving of some J'lhtened comment. The radioactive decay of uranium and its daughters has been studied in considerable detail. It has been found that natural uranium is composed of approximately 99.3 of the isotope U-238. Thus, most radiation emanating from uranium ore is due to the decay of this isotope and its daughters. U-238 decays through several daughters before becoming radon-222, which has a half-life of 3.8 days. Radon-222 decays into polonium-218 which usually decays into lead-214 lead-214 which decays into bismuth-214 which usually usu-ally decays into polonium-214 polonium-214 which decays into lead-210. which also decays de-cays through several daughters, the stable end product being lead-206. These isotopes, subsequent subse-quent to radon-222, the now infamous radon daughters, readily attach to ultrafine dust particles which settle slowly and are resuspended at low wind speeds. As is evident, radon-222 decays into lead-210, but only after the emission of a considerable amount of alpha, hela, and gamma energy; approximately 19.2, 2.0, and 0.2 million electron volts respectively. respective-ly. These radon daughters are known to be a hazard to humans, particularly when inhaled. In short, there definitely is a human health hazard associated with the mining min-ing and processing of uranium ore. This hazard will not be negated by rhetoric or eliminated by alchemists. The direct application of present technology for the control and stabilization of uranium tailings is expensive expen-sive but effective. That technology being, impoundment im-poundment within a relatively rela-tively impermable basin coupled with below-grade burial. This type of tailings management plan addresses the problem of radon exhalation, uses no alchemical hocus-pocus, and is environmentally sound and responsible. Sincerely -Jay Davig Blanding, Utah |
