Document Details

RadBalla deployable radiation mapping device
Author:	Stanley, Steven
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This paper describes a new radiation mapping service based on a device known as RadBall that has been developed by the National Nuclear Laboratory. More specifically, the development of the device is described as well as the methodology for calibration, deployment, exposure, analysis and subsequent image reconstruction. The device is best described as, 'a deployable tennis ball sized radiation mapping device which can locate, quantify and characterise radiation hazards from a single position'. In other words, the device offers a means to collect information regarding the severity and istribution of radiation in a given cell, glovebox or room to ensure that the safest and most cost effective decontamination strategy can be determined and executed. The device itself consists of two parts, an inner spherical core and an outer collimation sheath. The inner core is made of a radiation sensitive polymer whose opacity changes when exposed to radiation. The outer collimation sheath consists of a lead layer with over one hundred holes and fits tightly around the inner core. Once the device is deployed in a radioactive environment the collimation sheath partially attenuates radiation which would otherwise be incident on the inner core whilst allowing radiation to pass through the collimation holes. This process deposits a three dimensional pattern inside the polymer core which usually consists of 'radiation tracks'. This information can then be used to locate, quantify and characterise the radiation in the region of interest. Moreover, because the device requires no electrical supplies and is relatively small it is very easily deployed and can be used to map radiation hazards in hard to reach parts of the plant.

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Price:	£21.28 (£21.28 inc.)
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