Not only does the conversion math not work, none of the numbers work.
"readings shot up to more than 2,000 CPM.
Translated into milliseverets — a measure of the health effect of low levels of ionizing radiation on the human body — that was 6.06."
If 2 kcpm equal 6.06 millisieverts, that would equal 606 millirem.
"more than a dental X-ray but less than the background dose of radiation "
Yes, it would be more than a dental XRay, but I know of very few places on the planet where the background is greater than 600 mrem/hr.
"I’ve got questions about how long should I have stayed there. Southern California Edison says, ‘You could have stood there for a year and only gotten your yearly dose’ — but that’s for a radiation worker. I’m not a radiation worker.” "
600mrem/hr will not exceed a rad workers annual dose? That would have exceeded every annual radiation dose for rad workers for as long as there have been radiation annual dose limits for rad workers. Without working overtime, taking 2 weeks vacation per year, and working 5 days a week, the annual dose would be 1,212,000 mrem received, or 242.4 times the allowed annual dose for a radiation worker.