Investigators found lutetium Lu 177 contamination on the crematorium’s equipment, including the oven, bone crusher, and vacuum filter, with a 7.5-mR maximum exp

Investigators found lutetium Lu 177 contamination on the crematorium’s equipment, including the oven, bone crusher, and vacuum filter, with a 7.5-mR maximum exposure rate per hour on direct contact with the Geiger-Mueller detector. For practical purposes, that converts to a dosage equivalent of .0075 rems per hour. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s limit for a worker's whole body exposure is 5 rems per year, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual total exposure limit for a member of the public is 0.1 rems per year. At least they included this; the original stories in the news didn’t bother. It’s actually one of the few radiation stories for which the punchline isn’t, “Who cares?” You’d be getting the equivalent of about a chest and a half x-ray every two hours. Depending on how long you worked in the affected area you could get a distinctly non-lethal, but still arguably unhealthy dose. Maybe a decent scintillation counter or GM counter at the entrance to the crematorium would be a sound investment. An NRC certified GM counter isn’t expensive, especially compared to closing for a couple of months or decontamination efforts.