Dear All,
This morning, I was alerted to this metrication plan from 1996:
http://www.hanford.gov/rl/uploadfiles/RC_rl-94-0070.pdf
Thinking that this could be useful, I downloaded the 48 page document
only to discover that they had chosen the next to slowest possible
'Metric conversion' pathway to their inevitable metrication as I have
explained in the article 'Approaches to metrication' (at: http://
www.metricationmatters.com/docs/ApproachesToMetrication.pdf )
After reading for a while I guessed that this metric transition will
take 100 or more years. Their stated timeframe was to begin in 1994
and to finish in 1999 — allowing 5 years for their metric conversion.
Wondering how they got on with their metric conversion I read several
of their technical reports and here is one (chosen at random) from
the year 2006 (See: http://www.hanford.gov/docs/gpp/library/
programdocs/DOE-RL-2006-64.pdf ). It seems that they have made
little, if any, progress in 14 years so far.
They still felt the need to list a Metric Conversion Chart (on Page
v) and the few units mentioned in this technical report are in old
pre-metric measures; it almost seems that they are avoiding any
mention of measuring units at all. They might now be operating on an
'Ignore it and it will go away' principle (See the Approaches to
metrication article). This will put back their metric conversion for
a lot longer than 100 years.
Right now I guess that they are highly embarrassed by their
metrication failure without knowing that it was not their efforts
that failed but simply their choice of the method to do their
metrication upgrade.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See
http://www.metricationmatters.com/ for more metrication information,
contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to get the free
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