Wed, 2016-03-16

Abstract

Operational systems for nuclear security in Finland, France, Denmark, UK, US and Canada were reviewed. The Finnish case is a holistic approach to Nuclear Security Detection Architecture, as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency; reachback is only one component of the system, albeit an important crosscutting element of the detection architecture. The French and US studies concentrate on the reachback itself. The Danish nuclear security system is information-driven, relying on the cooperation of the competent authorities. The British and Canadian analyses describe nuclear security planning and operations in a major public event (MPE), the Olympics, where cooperation between the frontline officers and the reachback centre plays a key role in reducing radiological and nuclear risks.

For the implementation of an efficient reachback system there is a strong need for standardising the data acquisition, storing and final distribution of the analysis results. Major nuclear powers take this activity very seriously, and they have 24/7, all-year national service for information processing. The case studies of Finland and France show that efficient European reachback is manageable and technically possible on a country-wide basis. The case study on Denmark reveals that countries with limited reachback resources need an adequate and standardised technical information-sharing mechanism to aid their national analysis services in a precise and timely manner.

Mon, 2015-03-09

Abstract

Strengthening chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) security in the European Union (EU) reduces the threat of and damage from CBRNE incidents. One of the main issues facing the EU security industry is its highly fragmented nature, exhibiting a lack of standardisation and of harmonised certification procedures. The need for standardised information sharing between competent authorities and international bodies regarding radiation measurements and data analysis has been recognised by several experts in response to Commission mandate M/487 for the establishment of European security standards. This report will suggest a way forward to develop protocols for more efficient cooperation between competent authorities and remote expert support or reachback centres at the national and international level. Not all EU Member States have the capabilities to process data provided by nuclear security instruments, and thus should consider instigating a coordinated capability yielding a more efficient and comprehensive approach in responding to future nuclear emergencies. This could be achieved by reachback centres across Europe (built upon existing national facilities and expertise) and would provide analysis services for alarm adjudication. Efficient data sharing and processing across EU Member States requires the use of standard data formats and protocols.

Fri, 2015-07-03

Abstract

There is a significant potential in the use of unmanned remote controlled vehicles in sampling and measuring radiological events. No attempts to standardise sampling and measurement methods using these types of vehicles have yet been made. Common standards would simplify the use of remote controlled vehicles in an emergency scenario and would thus be very valuable in critical infrastructure protection (CIP). The main advantage of using unmanned systems in radiological events is the protection of the human personnel involved. This report is about current state-of-the-art of unmanned systems that have potential to be used for radiation measurements and sampling. It is believed that search and rescue robotics is the domain that is closest to the robots applicable to the radiation measurement scenarios. Therefore, a definition for search and rescue robots and outlines of their major subsystems are given. This is followed by a review of deployment scenarios for search and rescue robots outlining case studies of major emergencies at which robots have been deployed — with an assessment of their value to the emergency services. Additionally, research and development in search and rescue robotics, including current projects, testing environments and search and rescue robotics competitions, is outlined. Furthermore, this report shows unmanned robots and concepts for sensor systems capable of radiation detection based on state-of-the-art radiation sampling using unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles with rotary wings or unmanned aerial vehicles with fixed wings.

Fri, 2015-07-03

Abstract

There is significant potential for the use of unmanned remote control vehicles in sampling and measuring radiological events. No attempt to standardise sampling and measurement methods using these types of vehicles has been made so far. Common standards would simplify the use of remote control vehicles in an emergency scenario and would thus be very valuable in critical infrastructure protection. The main advantage of using unmanned systems in radiological events is the protection of the involved human personnel. This document focuses on possible scenarios for remote control radiation measurements and sampling using unmanned systems. We identified scenarios that can be separated in two categories. First, there are prevention scenarios where unmanned systems can be used to prevent incidents involving radioactive material and deterrence. Second, there are response scenarios where unmanned systems can be used to gather information after incidents with radioactive material have occurred. We further condensed three main tasks (spatial mapping, search of sources and sampling) for unmanned systems in the identified scenarios. In addition, this report summarises possible standards for unmanned systems. A very widely recognised standard collection of software frameworks for robot software development is the robot operating system. Further important standards concerning communication with robots and control of unmanned systems are battle management language, interoperability profile and joint architecture for unmanned systems.

Tue, 2015-05-19

Wed, 2015-01-14

Abstract

Recent developments of digital data acquisition systems allow real-time pre-processing of detector signals at a high count rate. These so-called pulse processing digitizers are powerful and versatile instruments offering techniques which are important for nuclear security, critical infrastructure protection, nuclear physics and radiation metrology. Certain aspects of digital data acquisition affect the performance of the total system in a critical way and therefore require special attention. This report presents a short introduction to digital data acquisition, followed by a discussion of the critical parameters which affect the performance in the lab and in the field. For some of the parameters, tests are proposed to assess the performance of digital data acquisition systems. Good practices are offered to guide the selection and evaluation of digital data acquisition systems. More general performance criteria which are not specifically related to digital data acquisition systems are discussed separately.

Fri, 2014-12-05

Abstract

This report deals with digital radiation detection systems employing list-mode data collection, which improves data analysis capabilities. Future data acquisition systems shall also ultimately enable the movement of detection data from first responders electronically to analysis centres rather than the costly and time consuming process of moving experts and/or samples. This new technology is especially useful in crisis events, when time and resources are sparse and increased analysis capacity is required. In order to utilise the opportunities opened by these new technologies, the systems have to be interoperable, so that the data from each type of detector can easily be analysed by different analysis centres. Successful interoperability of the systems requires that European and/or international standards are devised for the digitised data format. The basis of such a format is a list of registered events detailing an estimate of the energy of the detected radiation, along with an accurate time-stamp for recorded events (and optionally other parameters describing each event).