Rad!
Symbol sends clear message on the dangers of radiation

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — While the Bush Administration extols the virtues of "safe, clean nuclear energy," and plans to pump millions into its development, the International Atomic Energy Agency has come out with a different message.

The traditional international symbol for radiation, the three cornered trefoil, just wasn't doing the trick when it came to alerting the public to the dangers of radiation, according to the IAEA. Only those educated in such matters understood the symbol's significance.

Now, IAEA and the International Organization for Standardization have come up with a symbol even a 5-year-old can understand.

With radiating waves, a skull and crossbones, and a person seen running away, the new ionizing radiation warning symbol is being introduced to supplement the traditional symbol for radiation. That way, if a person doesn't understand the usual symbol, ideally, he will still get the message.

The symbol was tested with different population groups mixed ages, varying educational backgrounds, male and female to ensure that its message of "danger stay away" was crystal clear and understood by all.

"We can't teach the world about radiation," said Carolyn MacKenzie, an IAEA radiation specialist who helped develop the symbol, "but we can warn people about dangerous sources for the price of sticker."

The new symbol, launched several weeks ago, is designed to help reduce deaths and serious injuries from accidental exposure to large radioactive sources.

It will serve as a supplementary warning to the traditional symbol, "which has no intuitive meaning and little recognition beyond those educated in its significance," IAEA said in a press release.

Eliana Amaral, director for IAEA's Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, said, "I believe the international recognition of the specific expertise of both organizations will ensure that the new standard will be accepted and applied by governments and industry to improve the safety of nuclear applications, protection of people and the environment."

The new symbol is aimed at alerting anyone, anywhere, to the potential dangers of being close to a large source of ionizing radiation, and is the result of a five-year project conducted in 11 countries around the world.

The new symbol, developed by human factor experts, graphic artists and radiation protection experts, was tested by the Gallup Institute on a total of 1,650 individuals in Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Thailand, Poland, Ukraine and the United States, according to IAEA.

The symbol is intended for IAEA Category 1, 2 and 3 sources defined as dangerous sources capable of death or serious injury, including food irradiators, teletherapy machines for cancer treatment, and industrial radiography units.

The symbol is to be placed on the device housing the source, as a warning not to dismantle the device or to get any closer; however, it will not be visible under normal use, IAEA said. It will only be visible if someone attempts to disassemble the device.

The symbol will not be located on building access doors, transportation packages or containers, according to IAEA.

ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden said the new ionizing radiation warning symbol is the latest result of long-standing cooperation between the IAEA and ISO.

"We encourage the symbol's rapid adoption by the international community," he said.

Many source manufacturers plan to use the symbol on new large sources of radiation. Strategies to apply the symbol on existing large sources are being developed by the IAEA.

IAEA, established in 1957 under the United Nations, serves as the world's foremost intergovernmental forum in the peaceful use of nuclear technology.