Large-scale individual monitoring of internal contamination by gamma-emitting radionuclides in nuclear accident scenarios

The results obtained in a measurement campaign concerning internal contamination by the
gamma-emitting radionuclides of a large number of individuals are presented in this work. The aim is
to assess the effectiveness of the spectrometric method in an emergency response following a nuclear
power plant accident or a spread of radionuclides in the atmosphere due to an act of terrorism. An
HPGe portable spectrometer, deployed in a collective protection apparatus, was used for both
whole-body and thyroid measurements. An adult bottle mannequin absorption (BOMAB) and thyroid
phantoms were used to evaluate the detector performance. The BOMAB phantom was provided by the
Italian Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (INMRI) for the ENEA intercomparison exercise.
Thyroid phantoms were provided by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre for the ‘Child and Adult
Thyroid Monitoring After Reactor Accident ’ European intercomparison exercise. The instrument
performance was further evaluated by ...

Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - December 16, 2019 Category: Physics Authors: I Vilardi, G Antonacci, P Battisti, C-M Castellani, L Ciciani, D Del Gaudio, I Giardina, G Iurlaro, A Rizzo and L Sperandio Source Type: research