Efficient use of low resolution personal radiation detectorsat borders

In 2008, the Finnish government decided to give funding to a project for upgrading the radiation monitoring systems at the Finnish border stations. The project is scheduled for the years 2009-2014, and the total funding will be 10 million euros. The aim of the project is to enhance the radiation monitoring operation at the Finnish borders so that the ability to detect the import of radioactive substances and nuclear material is improved. In 2010, one hundred personal radiation detectors (PRDs) were purchased. The device is an easy-to-use low-price gamma and neutron detector. It has low resolution (CsI detector) spectrum acquisition and identification properties and it is capable of identifying a number of radioactive isotopes that are most typically encountered. The identified nuclides are classified as NORM, medical, industrial or Special Nuclear Materials. This is very useful for the customs officers, providing first hand information on the type of the detected radioactive material. Automatic analysis of low resolution spectra is not always reliable. Therefore for efficient use of spectral detectors it is imperative that the spectra can be delivered to the experts for a more detailed analysis. For that purpose every customs station will be equipped with a mini-PC and software for downloading the spectra from the detectors. The downloaded spectrum file is in the LML (Linssi Markup Language) format, which can be uploaded to a central database via a secure web page. An expert can review the spectrum and perform an independent analysis, and provide expert support to the customs officer in almost real time. It is envisaged that the spectrum alone provides sufficient information so that correct conclusions can be drawn quickly, and unnecessary interruptions to shipments can be avoided. In this paper the hardware, software and concept of operations are described.