Fresh doubts arise regarding safety of backscatter scanners

[aidanjt]

The full article is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray which includes the references to other studies and the experiments that were conducted.

I've already read it. As well as the principles behind Compton scattering.

in particular details of the experiment and reasoning (ref 49) is given here

Which doesn't actually explain anything. It claims that the concerns (note that they were not assertions, as the inventor claims) against his inventions safety were born from ignorance about the physics involved (even though one of the professors who co-signed the letter of concern has expertise specifically in X-ray crystallography), based on his assumptions about their thought processes which lead them to those concerns, and then fails to specify, much less elaborate on the physics they were supposedly ignorant of.

The problem remains, there has still been no independent testing of a device which has the theoretical potential to damage the health of operators and targets. That's more than sufficient to raise a red flag.

[Butcher]

It's rather dubious to refuse dosimeters for people working with radiation sources too wouldn't you say? If they are safe then there's no harm in issuing them, and if there's a malfunction it might save someone a dangerous dose of radiation.