The development of radioactive sample surrogates for training and exercises
The development of radioactive sample surrogates for training and exercises Source term information is required for to reconstruct a device used in a dispersed radiological dispersal device. Simulating a radioactive environment to train and exercise sampling and sample characterization methods with suitable sample materials is a continued challenge. The Idaho National Laboratory has developed and permitted a Radioactive Response Training Range (RRTR), an 800 acre test range that is approved for open air dispersal of activated KBr, for training first responders in the entry and exit from radioactively contaminated areas, and testing protocols for environmental sampling and field characterization. Members from the Department of Defense, Law Enforcement, and the Department of Energy participated in the first contamination exercise that was conducted at the RRTR in the July 2011. The range was contaminated using a short lived radioactive Br-82 isotope (activated KBr). Soil samples contaminated with KBr (dispersed as a solution) and glass particles containing activated potassium bromide that emulated dispersed radioactive materials (such as ceramic-based sealed source materials) were collected to assess environmental sampling and characterization techniques. This presentation summarizes the performance of a radioactive materials surrogate for use as a training aide for nuclear forensics.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE - NA
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1054302
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-11-24132
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Methods in Radioanalytical Chemistry IX,Kona, Hawaii,03/25/2012,03/30/2012
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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