Design and development of a detector system and software tool installed on a mobile laboratory to provide both radiological characterisation of large areas and a simple tool for localising radioactive sources

Abstract

In emergency situations where an immediate response is required to make appropriate decisions by the competent authorities, it is essential to have measurement tools that provide results as accurate as possible in real-time. This paper presents the description of the upgrade of the mobile laboratory of the Radiological Alert Network of Extremadura, focusing on the characterisation of radioactive-contaminated land during emergency situations and the detection of radioactive sources. The detector system is based on two scintillation detectors and a car-borne dose rate monitor. Additionally, a software tool has been developed to collect information from the different devices involved (detectors, GPS, etc) and display it in an intuitive manner. This system has been tested in an area of a former phosphate facility where soils remain contaminated to varying degrees with radionuclides of TE-NORM origin.

Keywords: emergency; mobile laboratory; orphan source; radiological characterisation.