CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION After obtaining results from our distributed and filed questionnaires and interview, we set out to designing the prototype of our devices, the Aerial Radiation Detection Device (ARD). But for us to progress we was important that we know the researches and experiments carried out in this field and how best to improve it. Literature Survey On PubMed, one of the best available researcher databases, we were able to find a journal on the Aerial measurements of artificial radionuclides in Germany in case of a nuclear accident. An extract from the report is as spectrometric systems carried by follow; ‘’Gamma-ray helicopters prove to be indispensable for the surveillance of environmental radioactivity. The aerial measurements are an important tool for rapid and large-scale nuclide specific determination of soil contamination after an accidental release of radionuclides from a nuclear facility. Furthermore this technique is also applied for the determination of anomalies of elevated radioactivity of natural radionuclides, the detection of lost radioactive sources and geological mapping. For the measurements the helicopters are equipped with a NaI (Tl)-detector array and a high purity germanium-semiconductor (HPGe) detector. Especially with the HPGe-detector it is possible to clearly identify individual radionuclides. To improve and to guarantee the quality of this method several exercises with different fields of interest have been carried out during the last years. Thereby the main focus is on the improvement of the instrumentation, data handling and data analysis. The results of the airborne radionuclide measurements from the Black Forest which was performed in co-operation with the Swiss National Emergency Operation Centre are presented here. During this exercise the gamma dose rate, soil contamination due to 137Cs and the specific activities of natural radionuclides in soil were determined’’. We also obtained another report for the Aerial radiation monitoring around the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant using an unmanned helicopter. An extract from the report is as The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 generated a series of follows; ‘’ large tsunami that seriously damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), which resulted in the release of radioactive materials into the environment. To provide further
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION After obtaining results from our distributed and filed questionnaires and interview, we set out to designing the prototype of our devices, the Aerial Radiation Detection Device (ARD). But for us to progress we was important that we know the researches and experiments carried out in this field and how best to improve it. Literature Survey On PubMed, one of the best available researcher databases, we were able to find a journal on the Aerial measurements of artificial radionuclides in Germany in case of a nuclear accident. An extract from the report is as follow; ‘’Gamma-ray spectrometric systems carried by helicopters prove to be indispensable for the surveillance of environmental radioactivity. The aerial measurements are an important tool for rapid and large-scale nuclide specific determination of soil contamination after an accidental release of radionuclides from a nuclear facility. Furthermore this technique is also applied for the determination of anomalies of elevated radioactivity of natural radionuclides, the detection of lost radioactive sources and geological mapping. For the measurements the helicopters are equipped with a NaI (Tl)-detector array and a high purity germanium-semiconductor (HPGe) detector. Especially with the HPGe-detector it is possible to clearly identify individual radionuclides. To improve and to guarantee the quality of this method several exercises with different fields of interest have been carried out during the last years. Thereby the main focus is on the improvement of the instrumentation, data handling and data analysis. The results of the airborne radionuclide measurements from the Black Forest which was performed in co-operation with the Swiss National Emergency Operation Centre are presented here. During this exercise the gamma dose rate, soil contamination due to 137Cs and the specific activities of natural radionuclides in soil were determined’’. We also obtained another report for the Aerial radiation monitoring around the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant using an unmanned helicopter. An extract from the report is as follows; ‘’ The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 generated a series of large tsunami that seriously damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), which resulted in the release of radioactive materials into the environment. To provide further