Ways To Detect Radiation

Dec 21

Although many radioactive elements are silver-colored metallic solids in their pure condition, they can come in a variety of colors and physical states, including liquids and gases. They're also indistinguishable from other (non-radioactive) metals in terms of physical properties. Furthermore, one's senses are unable to detect ionizing radiation. It is not visible, audible, olfactory, gustatory, or tactile. Because of these factors, mere eye inspection is insufficient for identifying radioactive materials, and radiation sources can be nearly difficult to detect without particular markers. Scientists have created four basic types of equipment to detect and identify radioactive materials and ionizing radiation to solve these issues:

Handheld Survey Meter with Personal Radiation Detector
Radiation Portal Monitor (RIID) (RPM)

Radiation Detector For The Individual (PRD)

A PRD is a pocket-sized gamma and/or neutron radiation detector. The gadget alerts with flashing lights, tones, and/or vibrations when it is exposed to high amounts of radiation. Most PRDs display the detected radiation intensity numerically (on a range of 0 to 9) and may thus be used to pinpoint a radiation source; however, they are not as sensitive as portable survey meters and cannot identify the kind of radioactive source.

Surveyor's Handheld

The survey meter, as its name suggests, is a portable radiation detector that detects the quantity of radiation present and displays the results on a numerical display in counts per minute, counts per second, microroentgen (R) or microrem (rem) per hour. Only beta and gamma radiation are detected by most of these instruments. Some versions, however, are capable of detecting alpha, beta, gamma, and/or neutron radiation released by radioactive materials.

A teletector, or gamma and x-ray detector, is one type of meter. This gadget, so named because of its "telescoping" capabilities, can be extended to roughly 4 meters (13 feet) in order to detect very high dose rates without exposing the operator to unwanted radiation. Furthermore, these sensors can often monitor radiation rates between 0 and 1,000 rad per hour.

Device For Detecting Radioactive Isotopes (RIID)

A radiation detector having the capacity to examine the energy spectrum of radiation in order to identify the individual radioactive substance (radionuclide) producing the radiation is known as a RIID. These devices can also be used as survey equipment to find radioactive materials.

Monitor Of The Radiation Portal (RPM)

An RPM (radiation pass-through monitor) is a huge pass-through radiation monitor (or "portal") for workers, vehicles, shipping containers, or trains. These devices typically consist of two pillars with radiation detectors that are monitored remotely from a display panel. These detectors sound an alert when radioactive elements, even low-radiation ones like uranium, are detected.