Workshop Report from SGR Conference 'Sharing the Responsibility' (1997)

SGR and Grassroots Activity

Report by Alan Mayne and Phillip Webber, SGR

After a round of mutual introductions, this workshop explored the relationship between SGR and the grassroots activity of its members and of related groups. There was a wide-ranging discussion of these issues and of the most effective role of SGR in helping us to pursue them. This confirmed that members felt that it was very worthwhile to have an organisation, such as SGR, where people felt that they could speak the 'unspeakable', for example by challenging the commonly held views or biases which they experienced at work, and where they were likely to be able to talk to or be in touch with a like minded group of people. It was felt that it would be useful to develop SGR's role in this regard, for example by means of e-mail discussion groups which would mean that people could discuss issues without having to meet at the same time or to make long journeys. It was felt that the newsletter was a highly useful means for members to keep in touch with what was going on in the organisation. There was a discussion about whether the newsletter should be more of a general interest publication, aimed at those outside SGR, but on the whole members felt that it was most useful as an internal document for members. Additional specific publications - especially information briefings - were also thought to be of use, both for members and as a source of information for arguments or letters.

Philip Webber drew attention to Euratom Directive 96/29, which will permit radioactive materials to be incorporated into consumer goods. This Directive is based on the concept of an 'allowable' radiation dose for each of us, and classifies as 'non-toxic' some substances previously classified as 'radioactive'. Rose Tilly outlined her recent investigations of background radiation levels at the edge of London Docklands, where she lives, which showed unacceptably high levels in a variety of source samples. She demonstrated this point with a scintillation meter, which showed that gamma radiation in smoke detectors in that area exceeded 400 counts per second. She had not yet received a reply to her inquiry to the National Radiological Protection Board, asking why a certain sample should have high radioactivity. Several points were made in the discussion, including the difficulty and complexity of measuring various forms of background radiation.