Station
Contents
1. V V S 5 Exterior Search When you search the outside of a vehiele sean under frame rails and bumpers as well as eheck the wheel wells in front and behind the tires Seeger E ge T T erg 33 A 6 Pickup Beds Scan the bed of pickup trucks Just because the bed is empty does not mean you can skip it A container of special nuclear material may be attached to the undersurface 7 Large Trucks Step van flatbed trueks dump trucks garbage trucks and many other large trucks present partieular ehallenge You must search wherever possible It helps to have a small stepladder or stepstool to reach the high places Search all the accessible spaces and search the exterior of any inaccessible spaces 8 Escorted Vehicles Escorted commercial vehicles should be searched even though they have been watched by a security escort The escort is responsible for watching the oceupants which may take his eyes off the vehicle Therefore eonduct a full search of the vehicle Use your eyes as well as your ears in searching 34 35 What To Do When You Find Radioactive Material Your station orders tell you specifically what to do when you deteet special nuelear material that has no removal permit In other eases when you find something that seems to be contamination medical radiation o2. Hand Held Search Monitor for Special Nuclear Materials User s Manual Station L AUG Q 1 1997 ORATORY 3 9338 00338 5159 SCANNER LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LAB MEE Hand Held Search Monitor for Special Nuclear Materials User s Manual Paul E Fehlau Contents PREFACE INTRODUCTION YOUR SEARCH MONITOR Built In Intelligence General Description Power On Off Switch Reset Button Thumbwheel Switeh Delta Rate Monitor r only Count Rate Meter ar Ss Battery Check Alarm Battery Charge GAMMA RADIATION Radiation Sourees Contamination m Baekground Radiation Summary MONITOR OPERATION Battery Reeharge Power On Setting the Background Setting the Alarm Level Delta Rate Monitor only SEARCH TECHNIQUES General Procedures Preparation for Seareh Personnel Seareh Package Search Motor Vehicle Search What To Do When You Find Radioactive Material Search Checklist x NOTES Preface This manual is for security guards who use hand held monitor to seareh people packages and vehicles for radioactive material It provides instructions for using the monitor to its maximum sensitivity in searching for radioactive materials The manual is both a teaching tool and a handy reference It a
3. resetting it will beep too much or not at all In that case press the RESET button again Usually one or two beeps per minute is about right At Los Alamos the normal background value is about 140 counts second Other locations will have different values Write the normal baekground value for your loeation at the bottom of this page If you suspeet the monitor is not working properly compare the displayed background value on the count rate meter with the normal reading for your location If it has changed your monitor may need repair Tell your supervisor immediately He will have the instrument repaired and will bring you a replacement to use while the repair is taking plaee Normal background radiation at your location counts second 22 There is good way to tell when you need to take new baekground the monitor beeps too often or not often enough When the background is properly set the monitor should once or twice each minute Use your watch to time the beeps instead of guessing When the monitor is turned on and has a recent background measurement it is ready for use If the monitor is already at the search location you are ready to conduct a search If the monitor is inside the guard station and you take it outside to search you probably will have to reset it Or if it has been quite while since you set the background you may have to reset it just before starting a search In either case r
4. C Amsden Design composition and layout Dorothy C Amsden Technical illustrations Barbara W Edwards Artist renderings Rodney L Furan Photographs Daniel F Morse Enrique F Ortega Robert M Pena Models for photographs Los Alamos National Laboratory employee Belinda Haag and Mason amp Hanger Silas Mason Co Inc security guards Francisco E Chavez Gerald J Keene Patricia Molina Pete Montoya Horacio E Roybal Text copy was composed in Bold font on a Wang word processor with proportional spacing Ies yemas Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico 87545
5. environment Gamma radiation is similar to light except that the eye eannot see it A radiation source emits gamma rays in all direetions just as a light bulb emits light in all directions And just as the intensity of light fades rapidly as you move away from a light bulb the intensity of gamma radiation fades as you move away from its source This comparison is true for bare light bulbs only refleetors or lamp shades ean redirect visible light but there is no way to redirect the flow of gamma radiation S O S m 20 SS Es he SRG d LD eS 2070 ER N u G O 26 o O S 9 S z Y EA EPA q N e ES lt Q e 5059 LARGE 505 QUANTITY Qe NN at 3X SPECIAL 550 NUCLEAR 2 MATERIAL IN o beep beep beep beep NEARBY VERY NOISY 14 Move in close with your monitor to find radioactive material The eloser your monitor eomes to radioactive material the greater the gamma ray intensity and the easier it is to find the material To find radioactive material you should follow the direction of inereasing intensity that is more frequent beeps However eertain shields in the path of gamma rays bloek their passage just as objeets in the path of light ereate shadow Look for shields that may shadow radioactive material and prevent your monitor from deteeting it For example briek and eonerete walls t
6. monitor Check large heavy containers very carefully with your monitor 1 Preparation Prepare to seareh in the usual way by making sure the monitor is turned on is operating properly and has a recent background In addition prepare the vehicle for seareh by asking the driver to shut off the engine and open the hood trunk and all doors Request that the driver and passengers get out of the vehicle and stand away from it during the search 2 Personnel Search Seareh each oeeupant as well as the vehicle Sean the occupants with your monitor while they are out of the vehicle before you allow them to go back inside 30 a 3 Hood Area Search Search under the vehicle s hood by moving the monitor within 6 inches of all surfaces that you can reach Don t forget to search the hood itself 31 4 Trunk and Interior Search Search the vehicle s trunk and interior Enter each door and search around every object and surface within reach Sean unlikely places such as the dashboard sunvisor headliner area floor and under the seats Search the space behind the rear seat Search the eargo areas in trucks If you cannot reach an area search it from outside the vehicle through glass whenever possible instead of through metal Remember to move the monitor within 6 inches of every surface When you are searching the inside of vehiele from outside be sure to take extra time 32 i
7. aterial if it is elose enough to sense it 26 A good place to begin your sean is near one foot Sean up one side of the body to the head then sean down the other side Ask the person to turn around and repeat the inverted U shaped sweep Pace your sean Each sweep from head to foot should take 2 or 3 seconds Hence a front sean will take 5 or 6 seconds turning around takes a few more seconds and back scan takes 5 or 6 seconds for a total of 15 seconds 27 A A SERM EEE Package Search Briefeases purses and packages are the common items that people earry Search each item by passing the monitor over its surfaee Ask the person to open large items for a visual seareh Look for large heavy objeets that may be radiation shields The open lead container in the photograph below is a eommereial radiation shield Similarly shaped objeets may be intended as shielding If package is sealed and eannot be opened for a visual seareh use more eare in seanning to make sure it does not eontain special nuelear material Search slowly over the surface of the package taking plenty of time to scan all sides 28 Motor Vehicle Search Motor vehicles are more ehallenging to seareh for Special nuelear materials than people or paekages The search is a much longer procedure Follow steps 1 5 when you seareh a motor vehicle Steps 6 7 and 8 are for specifie Remember to do a visual seareh as you sean with your
8. econd The Delta Rate Monitor has a digital display that registers the background count rate continuously Battery Check The BATTERY TEST button on the Personnel Vehicle Monitor allows you to test the battery eharge When you press the button the needle indieates BATTERY TEST whether the battery charge is adequate or low Instead of a battery test button the Delta Rate Monitor indicates a low battery by a flashing digital display 11 12 If your monitor beeps too often or not often enough update the background Alarm AUDIBLE ALARM The monitor beeps occasionally when no source is nearby because it is eontinuously measuring the radiation intensity in very short eounting time intervals The intervals are not much longer than the length of one of the beeps The measurements are not exaet Most of them are near the background intensity but a few always are a bit too large The large ones trip the monitor s alarm Therefore if the instrument beeps too often or not often enough the stored background needs updating Of course when radioaetive source is nearby the monitor should beep frequently Battery Charge CHARGER When the battery is low it ean be reeharged First turn off the monitor Then attach the charger cable to the monitor and plug the charger into a wall socket 13 Gamma Radiation Gamma radiation is emitted by radioactive atoms that are part of the natural
9. equaints first time users with the search monitor and the proper techniques for searching It also is a refresher for guards who have been reassigned to a search station Finally it serves as a reference at search stations by providing summaries checklists and places to record station specifie information Introduction One of your most important duties as a security guard is to prevent unlawful removal of special nuelear materials from aeeess areas Plutonium and enriched uranium qualify as speeial nuelear materials that are vital to the security of the United States The Department of Energy and the Nuelear Regulatory Commission require guards to seareh all persons packages and vehicles for these materials at exits from access areas The search is conducted with a hand held monitor that detects radiation emitted by special nuclear materials The monitor has detectors that are particularly sensitive to gamma radiation By using the monitor properly to conduct exit searches you ean detect even small quantities of plutonium and enriehed uranium When the monitor senses gamma radiation it beeps more and more often as you move it toward radioactive material This makes it possible for you to conduct a search by listening to the beeps You do not have to watch the meter You will know have located the radiation source when the monitor beeps most frequently It is relatively easy to detect a large quantity of radioaetive mat
10. erial the monitor senses it from a distance It is not so easy to deteet small quantities of radioactive material but they are just as important to find Your monitor eannot sense a small quantity of radioactive material unless it is nearby This means that you have to sean all surfaces within a few inches and take the time to do thorough job Read this manual carefully It will acquaint you with the parts of your monitor examine the fundamentals of gamma radiation explain how to operate the monitor and recommend Search techniques A copy of this manual should be available at every search station Write the name of the station on the cover Record information specific to the station in the blank spaces on pages 22 23 and 36 Use the blank pages at the end of the manual pages 38 39 to note special procedures in effect at that station Your Search Monitor Deteeting gamma radiation is the most effeetive way to search for hidden quantities of special nuclear materials Although searehing without a radiation monitor might meet the requirements of the Department of Energy and the Nuelear Regulatory Commission that kind of search is slow and may not always loeate the nuclear material Because all nuelear material is radioactive and emits gamma radiation searehing with a gamma ray monitor is a better way to find it Two hand held seareh monitors that detect gamma radiation were developed at Los Alamos National Labora
11. eset the background in the search area but not elose to the search objeet Your best bet is to leave the monitor at the search location to minimize the amount of background resetting Setting the Alarm Level Delta Rate Monitor Only When the radiation background is high you will need to adjust the sensitivity of the Delta Rate Monitor First as with any background change reset the stored background by pressing the RESET button Then slowly increase the thumbwheel setting from 07 its normal reading to 11 until only one or two beeps a minute oceur Remember to reset the background and decrease the thumbwheel switch setting when the background returns to normal Normal thumbwheel setting for your location 23 Search Techniques Your sensitive and intelligent monitor is only as good as your seareh teehnique The eare and thoroughness that you take in conducting a search are essential to the security of the access area that you are protecting The recommended seareh techniques that follow are for loeating small quantities of special nuelear material Large amounts are easy to detect of course and require no additional steps General Procedures To conduct a thorough effective search you must sean the monitor over the surface of every person package and vehicle Avoid contact a distance of 2 to 6 inches from a surface is close enough When the monitor senses source of gamma radiation it will begin beeping and you may
12. he user to concentrate on the search instead of on watehing the meter We call these monitors intelligent because they ean remember the intensity of the background radiation and will beep when the new intensity is greater than the baekground The Personnel Vehiele Monitor and the Delta Rate Monitor both have built in intelligence Ln AAN A E II TN IT ESS General Description Your search monitor has a gamma radiation detector inside it along with some electronics that operate the instrument The radiation detector is located just under the power switch inside the ease Each monitor also contains a battery to power the electronics The compact and lightweight monitor is designed for hand use The aluminum ease and its contents weigh only 4 pounds For its size and weight the monitor is highly sensitive Familiarize yourself with the dials and switehes on the control panel in particular note the location of the POWER ON OFF switch the RESET button the BATTERY TEST button and the AUDIBLE ALARM the beeper The count rate meter displays radiation intensity in eounts second which is the count rate It is not necessary to watch the meter when you are eondueting a seareh but it will display the eount rate when you press the button in the handle Grasp the monitor firmly in one hand so that you ean read the writing on the front panel The sensitive end of the monitor points away from you as it should during a
13. hick metal containers and sheets of lead are shields that stop gamma rays 15 Radiation Sources The natural surroundings and special nuclear material are not the only sources of gamma radiation Occasionally you may find radioactivity in everyday items For example some people still wear watches with glow in the dark radium dials that your monitor will sense Radium dial watches are intense radiation emitters and a health hazard to the skin of a person who wears the watch for long periods of time Now most glow in the dark watches have harmless tritium dials that your monitor will not detect because they emit beta radiation which is totally absorbed inside the wateh In addition to radioactive watches some camera lenses are radioactive because they are made with a type of glass that contains thorium a natural radioactive element Another common item that eontains thorium perhaps less likely to be encountered at a search station is Coleman lantern mantle The mantle small net bag is the part of gasoline lantern that glows when the lantern is lit Most of the thorium eontaining items are low intensity gamma ray emitters you may not be able to detect radiation from a mantle for instance unless your monitor is almost touching it A relatively uncommon form of radioactivity that security guards encounter once in a great while is inside people who are undergoing diagnosis with a medieal radioisotope When these ind
14. ividuals present themselves for search before their bodies have had time to eliminate the radioisotope they can be very intense sources of gamma radiation Normally these individuals are eleared through a seareh station by their supervisor or the facility health department 16 17 Contamination Another infrequent source of radiation deteeted at search stations is contamination Occasionally a security guard will detect a person with contaminated protective clothing or equipment For example a guard may detect contamination on someone s coveralls This can happen when a persistent gamma ray emitter does not wash out in the laundry Or the contamination may be fresh Security guards detect contamination because their search monitors are highly sensitive and can detect very small amounts of radioactive materials Background Radiation Finally a word about the background radiation at a monitoring station The background may vary occasionally Perhaps it will be a slight natural variation caused by changes in the weather Some natural radioactive atoms are part of the atmosphere or are attached to dust that is suspended in the air When it rains these particles are washed out of the air onto the ground and the background radiation level temporarily increases Other more noticeable changes in background may be caused by temporary operations at a work site such as movement of radioactive material or operation of a nuclear reactor I
15. n any case your monitor is so sensitive that it will notice even slight variations in background radiation 18 CANARIA NA ON SEN Re DD TRUM SEC CS GEI I SE DET EE Summary As we have seen special nuelear material emits gamma radiation that your monitor ean deteet You should also keep in mind the other sources of radiation that your monitor will detect Familiarize yourself with the following list of radiation sourees that you may encounter on the job SOURCES OF GAMMA RADIATION Natural baekground Special nuclear material Wristwatch radium dial Camera lens containing thorium Medieal treatment with radioisotopes Low level contamination 19 Monitor Operation Operating your monitor properly takes a certain amount of eare preparation and knowhow Make sure the battery is charged and the power turned on Be sure to reset the background The monitor should beep once or twice every minute If you are using a Delta Rate Monitor set the thumbwheel to the proper value To conduct a search grasp the instrument firmly in one hand so you ean read the writing of the front panel The sensitive end of the monitor points away from you Always keep the monitor within 4 to 6 inches of the surface you are scanning Battery Recharge The rechargeable battery will operate the monitor for about 14 hours When you are not using the monitor for long periods of time 4 hours or more recharge it by attaching the charge
16. notice that the intervals between beeps shorten as the monitor approaches a radiation souree If the monitor beeps but there is no ehange in beep intervals as you move the monitor around an object the radioaetivity may be distributed uniformly over the objeet This sometimes happens in the ease of contamination You ean pinpoint small sources of radiation by moving the monitor around a radioactive area to find the strongest response If the source is a very strong one reset the baekground while the monitor is near it The monitor will be less responsive but when it does start beeping it will be very close to the source Reset the monitor to a normal background before using the instrument again 24 Preparation for Search Be sure the hand held monitor is turned on is operating properly and has a recent baekground taken at the seareh loeation At the beginning of your shift you ean verify that it is operating properly by monitoring a small radioactive source that is kept in the guard station for just that purpose Simply bring your monitor near the souree and verify that it detects the radiation Verify your monitor at least onee a day perhaps at the start of your shift 25 SRS RRR en S RR RR Personnel Search Allow 15 seconds to perform a thorough radiation search of a person This is enough time to search the person front and back You may move your monitor rapidly but remember that it will only detect radioactive m
17. r radioactive camera lenses or wristwatches have the item or person examined by a health physies surveyor Then ask the nuclear material custodian or site supervisor to clear the item or person Write the names and telephone numbers of the persons you will need to contact in the spaces provided Health Physics Surveyor Telephone Nuclear Material Custodian Telephone Site Supervisor Telephone 36 SEARCH CHECKLIST NOTE Search distance 2 to 6 inches from surface Preliminaries Monitor is turned on Baekground is eurrent Personnel Search 15 seconds Front inverted U shaped sweep Back inverted U shaped sweep Paekage Seareh Monitor inside and eonduet a visual inspection Monitor outside very carefully for sealed packages Motor Vehiele Seareh Engine shut off Driver and passengers get out and open eompartments Search occupants before they reenter vehicle Search engine area under hood Search hood Search trunk area Search trunk lid Search under seats Search dashboard Search sunvisor Search headliner Search floor Search behind rear seat Search cargo area of trucks Search under frame rails Search under bumpers Search wheelwells Search bed of pickup trucks 37 Notes 38 39 40 Remember to take 15 seconds when you search a person wr U S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1984 776 101 1029 Produced by the Energy Division Advanced Nuclear Technology Group Technical writing and editing Dorothy
18. r to it and plugging the charger in an electrical outlet If you forget to charge the battery you can plug in the eharger while the monitor is turned on and operating if your workload permits However don t make a habit of eharging the monitor during duty hours because it is unhealthy for the batteries When the batteries are charged in short frequent intervals they will sooner or later lose their ability to provide power If a spare monitor is available one monitor ean be charged while the other is being used Power On To operate the monitor turn on the power by flipping the toggle switeh to the ON position You will know that the monitor is on and ready to be used when you hear an occasional beep 20 21 Setting the Background When you turn on the power the monitor will probably start beeping This is beeause no baekground radiation intensity is stored in the monitor s memory After the monitor is turned on for 10 15 seconds you ean store the baekground radiation by pressing and releasing the RESET button A few seconds after you press the button the memory will have a new baekground value and the monitor should behave normally When you first turn on the monitor wait about 10 seconds before you set the baekground or you may have to set it twiee Cold weather or a slow starting monitor may cause this delay Turn on the monitor wait 10 seconds then press and release the RESET button If the monitor needs further
19. search However the monitor also senses radiation from the sides and the bottom SENSITIVE END AUDIBLE ALARM COUNTS PER SEC PUSH BUTTON TO READ COUNT RATE METER THUMBWHEEL SWITCH Delta Rate Monitor only POWER ON RESET SYSTEM 10 Power On Off Switch An essential first step to monitoring is to turn the monitor on It can t do its job otherwise Reset Button When you press and release the RESET button the monitor begins a short baekground measurement that lasts about 3 seconds At the end of the measurement the monitor records the radiation background value Do not use the monitor to eonduet any part of search while this baekground measurement is in progress Remember to count to 3 after you release the button before you start searching Thumbwheel Switch Delta Rate Monitor Only The Personnel Vehicle Monitor and the Delta Rate Monitor look quite similar One difference is the thumbwheel switch labeled DELTA SELECT on the Delta Rate Monitor By adjusting the switch to a higher setting you ean maintain the monitor s sensitivity during short periods of high radiation background But remember to lower the setting as soon as possible Count Rate Meter COUNTS PER SEC The eount rate meter on the Personnel Vehicle Monitor operates when you press a button in the front part of the handle By pressing the button you ean display the radiation intensity in counts s
20. tory You are probably using one of them either the Personnel Vehicle Monitor or the Delta Rate Monitor The Personnel Vehicle Monitor is a sensitive general purpose instrument more commonly used at search stations The Delta Rate Monitor is a more specialized instrument for stations where the radiation intensity is highly variable A thumbwheel switeh on the Delta Rate Monitor allows the operator to eompensate for these ehanges in intensity At present these two hand held gamma radiation monitors with built in intelligence are in widespread use at search stations Newer versions of these monitors will be similar in design and operation to the Personnel Vehicle Monitor and the Delta Rate Monitor Even if you are using different model the information in this manual will be useful to you Built In Intelligence Many hand held monitors ean sense the weak gamma radiation that is part of our natural environment which is ealled baekground radiation They also ean sense an inerease in gamma ray intensity over the background radiation near special nuelear material However most monitors are not partieularly suited to search requirements at exit stations beeause the user has to wateh a eount rate meter and interpret the information This diverts his attention from the seareh The most useful instruments for searching by hand are monitors that signal increases radiation intensity with a noise sueh as a beeping sound The beeps allow t
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