Airborne Systems for Emergency Radiological Monitoring

A variety of aerial radiological monitoring systems are available to respond to a radiological accident or incident affecting large areas. These are operated by EG&G, Inc. for ERDA´s Division of Operational Safety. A survey system can be airborne within approximately two hours after notification. Both airborne and terrestrial radioactivity can be measured and mapped. Special analysis procedures allow discrimination between radioactivity from most man-made radioelements and naturally occuring radioelements. A position accuracy of ±54 feet can be maintained over a large area survey. Detection sensitivity for gamma sources employing NaI detector arrays on board an airplane flying at 500 feet altitude is better than 2 ¿R/hr for surface planar contaminants and approximately 10 mCi for a point gamma source.