Low-cost wireless smart device design for radiation protection and nuclear security

This article presents the realization and implementation of a low-cost intelligent electronic device, which detects the ambient dose rate of Gamma and Beta ionizing radiation in real-time. Developed according to the principle of nuclear analog signal processing, the device uses a Geiger-Müller tube detector, in which the electronic circuit has been readjusted to produce the standard radiation protection signal (a slow positive logic pulses). It also consists of low-cost components such as the Atmega328P microcontroller board and XBee wireless modules for environmental radiation and nuclear security monitoring. The proposed device has several advantages, namely low energy consumption, low-cost, easily deployable in the field (in-situ), adapted for real-time measurements and data transmission to a remote personal computer (PC). After calibration using Cesium (¹³⁷Cs), a comparative analysis of the data obtained from the proposed dosimeter was carried out with those of an in-situ gamma spectrometry chain (reference method) previously used at the same place and under the same conditions. This analysis gave an acceptable mean value of 64.30 nGy/h, of the proposed device, compared to that of the gamma spectrometer, which is 50.67 nGy/h. The prototype thus developed is simple, precise, and made for radiation protection. (paper)