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An evaluation of nearest neighbor averaging's improvements to the measurement sensitivity of wide-area radiological scanning instruments - 15560

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22824432
Through the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program, Sandia worked with the Environmental Restoration Group (ERG) Inc. to verify and validate a novel algorithm used to determine the scanning Critical Level (Lc) and Minimum Detectable Concentration (MDC) (or Minimum Detectable Areal Activity) for the 102F scanning system. Through the use of Monte Carlo statistical simulations the algorithm mathematically demonstrates accuracy in determining the Lc and MDC when a nearest-neighbor averaging (NNA) technique was used. To empirically validate this approach, SNL prepared several spiked sources and ran a test with the ERG 102F instrument on a bare concrete floor known to have no radiological contamination other than background naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). The tests conclude that the NNA technique increases the sensitivity (decreases the Lc and MDC) for high-density data maps that are obtained by scanning radiological survey instruments. It is further described in Sandia Laboratories document number SAND2014-16522. (authors)
Research Organization:
WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
OSTI ID:
22824432
Report Number(s):
INIS-US--19-WM-15560
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English