With increasing fears that chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials or weapons will fall into terrorist hands, the need for innovative radiation detection technology has never been so pressing. In response, Thermo Fisher Scientific developed a new line of radiation area monitors that eliminates operational requirements for on-site safety and security personnel.
Security personnel, military teams and first responders can now utilize the Thermo Scientific RadHalo rapid deployment prove (RDP) and fixed monitor (FM) to address radiation threats. The highly-sensitive Thermo Scientific RadHalo RDP and FM spectroscopic area monitors offer the industry’s first hands-free technology to monitor dose rate and identify radiation on location or from miles away via five different reachback options.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some of the early symptoms of radiation sickness are fairly nonspecific and include nausea, weakness, hair loss, skin burns or diminished organ function (especially bone marrow)—and can eventually cause death—attesting to the importance of testing and monitoring an area to mitigate health hazards and aid in recovery.
“Our line of radiation detection instruments now provides higher sensitivity and accuracy while adding remote-operation functionality, putting a premium on the safety of people whose job it is to be in harm’s way,” said Scott Masiella, Thermo Fisher Scientific spectroscopy product line manager. “We designed theRadHalo to provide fast, autonomous radiation measurement in hot zones, further protecting personnel from exposure risk.”
The RadHalo lines gives security personnel, military and emergency response teams the ability to quickly and safety identify and address radiation threats. The instruments can be deployed as fixed area (permanent) or mobile (temporary) radiation monitoring devices, enabling real-time data collection in a number of scenarios, from security checkpoints to large public gatherings. In addition, RadHalo instruments can be networked wirelessly to expand reach across large areas, venues, or even across an entire city.
The RadHalo RDP and the RadHalo FM are designed to deliver high sensitivity and accuracy across a wide range of low to extremely high radiation dose rate levels. The instruments also feature a rugged design for uninterrupted usage in various environments, including certain extreme weather conditions. With multiple configurations available, the instrument can adapt to any situation, from special event monitoring to responding to a nuclear power accident.
Other notable features of the RadHalo instrument include a 72 hour battery, a full range of built-in reachback capabilities—including WiFi, satellite, radio, cellular and direct wire, and multiple ways to view data, including a mobile app, web interface and Thermo Scientific ViewPoint command and control software.
