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Arts and Entertainment, page 11
Second baseman Mims
leads Huskers to sweep
Veather: Partly sunny today
with a high of 78. Strong southerly
winds. Tonight, chance of lingering
showers, low of 45. Slightly cooler
Tuesday.
Sports, page 8
r v ri Daily rj
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March 31, 1986
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 85 No. 128
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The great escape
Tom Magnuson of Lincoln interrupts
Sunday s Husker baseball game
Andrea HoyDaily Nebraskan
his bike ride to catch a few innings of
Kansas State.
marice
nam
Nuclear energy safe, officer says
By Todd von Kampen
Senior Reporter
Hanging on Larry Grimm's office door in the
501 Building is a red and yellow sign that says,
"CAUTION: RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS."
But those who enter the room shouldn't think
they're about to keel over and die, Grimm said. If
used properly, he says, the radioactive materials
in his office or anywhere on campus are no
more dangerous than the light emitted from an
airplane's "EXIT" sign.
Grimm, who came to Lincoln from Denver,
took oyer as lyscadj(flWraa1oactive
"materials arriving on campus, train professors in
their use and investigate any accidents that
might occur. Even virtually harmless radioactive
materials are checked closely, he said.
"I treat it like electricity," he said. "If you
treat it with a healthy respect, it won't hurt you.
If you don't, it can really shock you."
The Radiation Safety Office was established
20 years ago to make certain federal and state
regulations on radiation are followed, said Dir
ector of Environmental Health and Safety Earle
Brown.
People working as radiation safety officers are
required to have five years experience in health
physics, which is the study of radiation effects
on people and the proper ways to handle radia
tion and the prevention of problems.
Most radioactive materials are used in con
ducting research, Grimm said. Between 70 and
80 faculty members, he said, are authorized to
handle radioactive materials in fields ranging
from cellular biology to agricultural engineering.
Radioactive versions of common elements like
hydrogen, carbon, iodine and phosphorous
account for most of the radioactive materials at
UNL, Grimm said. The mechanical engineering
department has some plutonium, he said, but its
radioactivity level is much lower than plutonium
used for nuclear energy.
Many people have the misconception that
exposure to radioactive materials makes one
radioactive, Grimm said. But to reach that level
of exposure, he said, people would have to be
bombarded heavily with protons or neutrons.
The heaviest concentration of radioactive
materials at UNL, he said, emits only half as
much radiation as an "EXIT" sign.
"It's like saying, 'If I get hit by light, I become
alight bulb,' " he said.
Although the danger level is low, Grimm said,
he assumes that radiation can be harmful and
should be watched carefully. People can breathe
in radioactive materials or absorb them through
the skin easily if they are not careful.
Before faculty members are authorized to use
radioactive materials, Grimm said, they have to
be trained in its proper use. He said he keeps
track of the exact amount of materials each
faculty member has with the help of a computer
in his office. When faculty members are ready to
dispose of radioactive waste, he said, they report
to him so he can send it to a disposal site.
UNL's Radiation Safety Commission has the
final authority to grant permission to use radio
active materials, Grimm said. If faculty members
are fQun.dP.." ThtmaenaTs' away from
them, he said.
"For research, that's a killer," he said. "It has
been done."
1 treat it like electricity.
If you treat it with a
healthy respect, it won't
hurt you. If you don't, it
can really shock you.'
Grimm
Grimm said UNL has had few problems with
spills of radioactive materials. A recent spill of
phosphorous-32, he said, couldn't be completely
scrubbed out of the floor, but a piece of paper
placed over the spill area blocked the radiation.
The phosphorous-32 will decay completely in
about three months, he said.
When he came to UNL, Grimm said, he made
training programs one of his priorities. Their
success will not stop problems with handling
radioactive materials, he said, but they should
help insure that people use them more safely.
"I, as a health physicist, expect people to
make mistakes," he said. "Ninety-nine percent
of the problems out there are traceable to human
error."
Even if people make mistakes, Grimm said,
they should not worry excessively about radia
tion exposure.
"The perception of danger from radiation
activity in this society is highly overblown," he
said. "I would personally rather live next to a
nuclear power plant than drive 300 miles. The
risk is much greater driving."
Kcr4
The KH I::ltrir.:l3c;r
&M;rlr,2 a phi U r.rr . tcT.ccr
in;?, Eeger.t BciuM Fdcke cf Lin
coln introduced a proposal to stud
lege of Education. The Lincoln col-;
lego has 2,C3 students end ths
O.ti&ha ccllcss has 1,141
tat NU Frcsident EorM Kates
assured UNO Chancellor Del Weber
that the study will net halt UNO's
search fzr a teacher cf education
ws leen iii:uiae4 fcrlh'i foslr
Cf
UB tcalsrt',. Ha s"J-J he bo exposes'
the merger bsesuse he .fesrs It'!
shortdln education in the future "
'Payns sili. "We should b3 er.co
"Evcrj'thir.g poes in cycles,
. Ci? tiis prsj'C-sal trr-t-1 ti;:r April :
nisiration. , .
sztA Margaret Cotlnaon cf Nor 1
falls szli a merger r.sy not be possi- -tie,
tut the two d rpsrtncnts shou! j
work toward better cooperation.
Hosfccns said the beard must be
prepared to take action cn difficult
propyls needed to ssve racr.cy.
1
- Lv s"4 1 riCttc t '"very usjUiiiis'
what ilz Ikbmkn, econoray will
the mor.t ps.5r.ful kind cf chc?e. We
have to rro;iSfy our spprcach," he
The board dso delayed action on
a prepced to eliminate the NU
School cf Technicdi Agriculture in
UNL Chsr.ceUcr Martin ?.Isen
goia sussested the board delsy any
action until a report on the effects
cf $3 million in budget cuts is completed.
- Ted Ilnlir. dsn cf tU Ccihp ;
Via ct
bluff said the bczrd must decide the
futurs cf tha schocl. ' .
"V.Vre gsfcs; to have to act pretty
fast if we're going to have any school
out there," Simmons said,
Dospite the uncertainty cf the
school's future, students should
register for fl classes Macseiole
said,
Eartang said the school would
save an estimated $210,000 under
the cooperation plart
