Czech Authorities Won't Allow 'Naked' Scanners, Deemed Dangerous

haibane · 01-15-2010, 11:46 AM

Here is an interesting one - I have previously only noticed the information about potential danger of the 'naked' scanners on Alex Jones' site, so he is at least good for something, eh?

This is at toady's Lidové noviny (a daily print and on-line newspaper):

The Czech Nuclear Energy Authority Won't Allow Airport Scanners in the Czech Republic

"From our point of view this is too much of a [health] risk, to which a huge number of people is exposed every year." said the authority's chairwoman Dana Drábová. Since there are other options available for conducting the security checks there is no reason to use the X-ray frames.
"Although it is true that the dose of ionising radiation emited by the scanners is very small, our current knowledge points that there is no safe dose of radiation. Each dose, even a small one, presents a risk of causing cancer. Therefore we will not issue a permition to use such device to anyone."

The article goes on to quote Drabova that the scanners emit about half of the dose of radiation compared to medical X-ray scanners, but that those are actually beneficial to the patient, which cannot be said about the ones at airports. And that the X-ray examination is only required by an MD when there are no other options.

This decision may however be overruled by the government.

The article actually quotes another daily which originally broke the story. Links to both articles here (in Czech):
http://www.lidovky.cz/urad-pro-jader...8_ln_domov_mev
http://domaci.ihned.cz/c1-39912890-j...j-prilis-velke

Also, if you've ever taken an X-ray scan, you know the staff normally operates the equipment from behind a thick wall with a layer of led and takes all kinds of preventive measures not to be exposed, so it is likely that the security personnel operating the more-or-less free-standing naked scanners might be exposed to high radiation levels over during their shift, and that it may not be entirely safe even for the passers-by ...

Any thoughts?

01-15-2010, 11:46 AM	#1
haibane Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Prague Posts: 75	Czech Authorities Won't Allow 'Naked' Scanners, Deemed Dangerous Here is an interesting one - I have previously only noticed the information about potential danger of the 'naked' scanners on Alex Jones' site, so he is at least good for something, eh? This is at toady's Lidové noviny (a daily print and on-line newspaper): The Czech Nuclear Energy Authority Won't Allow Airport Scanners in the Czech Republic "From our point of view this is too much of a [health] risk, to which a huge number of people is exposed every year." said the authority's chairwoman Dana Drábová. Since there are other options available for conducting the security checks there is no reason to use the X-ray frames. "Although it is true that the dose of ionising radiation emited by the scanners is very small, our current knowledge points that there is no safe dose of radiation. Each dose, even a small one, presents a risk of causing cancer. Therefore we will not issue a permition to use such device to anyone." The article goes on to quote Drabova that the scanners emit about half of the dose of radiation compared to medical X-ray scanners, but that those are actually beneficial to the patient, which cannot be said about the ones at airports. And that the X-ray examination is only required by an MD when there are no other options. This decision may however be overruled by the government. The article actually quotes another daily which originally broke the story. Links to both articles here (in Czech): http://www.lidovky.cz/urad-pro-jader...8_ln_domov_mev http://domaci.ihned.cz/c1-39912890-j...j-prilis-velke Also, if you've ever taken an X-ray scan, you know the staff normally operates the equipment from behind a thick wall with a layer of led and takes all kinds of preventive measures not to be exposed, so it is likely that the security personnel operating the more-or-less free-standing naked scanners might be exposed to high radiation levels over during their shift, and that it may not be entirely safe even for the passers-by ... Any thoughts? Last edited by haibane; 01-15-2010 at 05:30 PM. Reason: Typos ...