Phase II of Rapid Deployment Consequence Monitor Development

In the case of a radiological dispersal event (as a result of an accident or a terrorist action), emergency responders must assess the hazards in the impacted area to manage the consequences of the event. Tracking the dispersal cloud and making decisions regarding the site assessment, control, mitigation, containment, remediation, and monitoring depend on accurately acquiring dispersal data that was obtained in a rapid manner. Current methods of obtaining this information are labor-intensive, slow, expensive, and risky. This paper presents the results of the Phase II development of a system for monitoring consequences of man-made accidents or acts of terrorism. The system is capable of performing radiological and climatic monitoring of the environment using a small number of carefully selected sensors installed on each of the sensor node platforms. A base station supports communication with the local sensor node platform network utilizing digital radio frequency (RF). The base station interfaces with a data processing computer that performs data acquisition and radiological and climatic real-time accident site assessment. General concepts of the system’s function, as well as the design of its components and laboratory test results are presented. The paper also describes the prospects for further development and applications of the system for monitoring the consequences of a technological accident or a terrorist act in the future.