Fynn_the_Finger

His opinions might be unpopular, and his offers to educate incredibly condescending, but I think he deserves more than a blithe dismissal and labeling.

Ah, my department at the university would occasionally help scouts out with certain badges. That was part of our prep book on nuclear technology. It was also burned into my head by the Navy, so it's one of the few things I remember. 5 Rem/yr for whole body. 50 Rem/yr for extremities. Congrats by the way, heck of an achievement.

Alright, pop quiz, see if you can remember your Nuclear Science badge.

What's the annual whole body ionizing dose limit for radiation workers as set by the NRC. Bonus points, what's the limit for extremities?

I work on high end antennas. One day I had the choice between just accepting the contractor's proposal to use 5 $60 washers, or paying them several hundred dollars to put together a justification to use the 5 $60 since it's a cost reimbursable contract and the engineers aren't cheap and they're slow when you ask them to do something they don't want to. Then of course the report has to go through management review, probably at least two layers. Then we apply overhead, cost of money, general and administrative, and fee, and before we know it, my question could cost way more than the washers ever would (and they'd still probably use the washers).

As an acquisition professional, I can give you some ideas of what they were thinking:

1. Contractor decided they'd make more money that way.
2. Senior government employee who's not directly working for the contract, but holds influence heaped a pet project into it.
3. Requirements creep.

From an engineer's perspective: 1. It was the most cost efficient/effective way to to it. 2. Because fuck the user, that's why.