Survey Instrumentation

Guidance on Selection and Use of Survey Instruments

Information is available from a number of sources to help in the selection and use of radiation survey instruments and measurement systems that are used in D&D operations. 

The Multi-Agency Radiation Survey & Site Investigation Manual contains information on planning final status survey measurements and the selection instruments (chapter 4), field measurement methods and instrumentation (chapter 6) and sampling and preparation for laboratory measurements (chapter 7).

EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program - or ETV - was instituted to verify the performance of innovative technical solutions to problems that threaten human health or the environment. ETV was created to substantially accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplace.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued draft reports on measurement methods and the performance of survey instruments for field measurements:

Measurement Methods for Radiological Surveys in Support of New Decommissioning Criteria – NUREG-1506.

Minimum Detectable Concentrations with Typical Radiation Survey Instruments for Various Contaminants and Field Conditions – NUREG-1507.

For information on radiation survey protocols, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has produced a Procedures Manual that is used in performing field measurements under their Environmental Survey and Site Assessment Program.