Response of the REWARD detection system to the presence of a Radiological Dispersal Device
- IST - Campus Tecnologico e Nuclear, Estrada Nacional 10 - km 139.7, 2695-066, Bobadela LRS (Portugal)
- Physical Institut, University of Freiburg Hermann-Herder-Str. 3 D-79104 Freiburg (Germany)
- Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona - IMB-CNM, CSIC, E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain)
In recent years an increased international concern has emerged about the radiological and nuclear (RN) threats associated with the illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials that could be potentially used for terrorist attacks. The objective of the REWARD (Real Time Wide Area Radiation Surveillance System) project, co-funded by the European Union 7. Framework Programme Security, consisted in building a mobile system for real time, wide area radiation surveillance, using a CdZnTe detector for gamma radiation and a neutron detector based on novel silicon technologies. The sensing unit includes a GPS system and a wireless communication interface to send the data remotely to a monitoring base station, where it will be analyzed in real time and correlated with historical data from the tag location, in order to generate an alarm when an abnormal situation is detected. Due to its portability and accuracy, the system will be extremely useful in many different scenarios such as nuclear terrorism, lost radioactive sources, radioactive contamination or nuclear accidents. This paper shortly introduces the REWARD detection system, depicts some terrorist threat scenarios involving radioactive sources and special nuclear materials and summarizes the simulation work undertaken during the past three years in the framework of the REWARD project. The main objective consisted in making predictions regarding the behavior of the REWARD system in the presence of a Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD), one of the reference scenarios foreseen for REWARD, using the Monte Carlo simulation program MCNP6. The reference scenario is characterized in detail, from the i) radiological protection, ii) radiation detection requirements and iii) communications points of view. Experimental tests were performed at the Fire Brigades Facilities in Rome and at the Naples Fire Brigades, and the results, which validate the simulation work, are presented and analyzed. The response of the REWARD detection system to the presence of an RDD is predicted and discussed. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE, 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016-5997 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22531409
- Report Number(s):
- ANIMMA-2015-IO-368; TRN: US16V0503102350
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ANIMMA 2015: 4. International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications, Lisboa (Portugal), 20-24 Apr 2015; Other Information: Country of input: France; 9 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
GAMMA RADIATION
INSPECTION
INTERFACES
MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE
MONITORING
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NEUTRON DETECTORS
RADIATION ACCIDENTS
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOLOGICAL DISPERSAL DEVICES
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
SILICON