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RE: survey meter question (and free training)
Peter,
We conduct WMD courses and exercises for the U.S. Department of Justice
Office for Domestic Preparedness (DOJ ODP) and U.S. Department of Energy
National Nuclear Security Administration. We train emergency responders, and
the target audience includes: HazMat Techs, Fire departments, Law
Enforcement, Emergency Medical Technicians, Emergency Management Personnel,
Department of Defense units, Civil Support Teams, Public Works Managers, and
other emergency response personnel.
In response to your question, a meter to look at is the Thermo Eberline FH
40 GL. Compared to many other meters, the FH40GL is easy to use, is small
and lightweight, has large digits on the LCD, has 4 large buttons, and has
counter/scaler modes as well as rate meter modes. They are water-proof,
rugged, and easy to decontaminate. They are also easy to use while wearing
PPE. The FH 40 GL is an excellent general purpose meter with about 20
different probes available. The FH 40 GL is not the cheapest meter, but has
a lot of capability for responders. The FH 40 GL uses "smart probes" so that
the meter recognizes the probe and adjusts the alarm levels, display
settings, etc to match the probe. For example, when you remove the gamma
plastic scintillator probe (NBR probe) and attach the contamination probe
(FHZ 732), the display changes from uR/hr (with gamma symbol) to cpm (with
the alpha, beta, and gamma symbols displayed). The user can set up the
meter to show or Sv/hr, Gy/hr, R/hr, cpm, cps. No button presses or toggle
switch changes are needed when a probe is changed.
As a gamma-ray detector for the HazMat team, I suggest looking into the
Thermo Eberline FH40GL NBR (Natural Background Reduction) detector. This
sensor is extremely sensitive. It is the simplist-to-operate gamma meter
that I have seen that can distinguish man-made gamma sources from natural
gamma emitters. It gives a Red light / Green Light answer in a couple of
seconds. Red Light means "Man-made" radioactive source (Ba-133, Cs-137,
Pu-239, U-238, U-235, etc), and Green Light means Natural radioactive
material. No user interaction (or button presses) are required It can
detect (and classify) 3uR/hr of Cs-137 in fluctuating natural backgrounds
(of about 12 uR/hr). The HazMat Techs we teach really like this instrument.
A second detector (gas proportional) inside the meter measures the gamma
dose rates of 1 uR/hr up to 10 R/hr, giving you low range and high range
sensitivity in the same instrument. Both sensors are constantly measured
simultaneously, so if you move into a higher dose rate area with the NBR
attached, the internal detector will cause an audio and visual "dose rate
alarm." Very high range (up to 1000 R/hr) probes are also available, giving
you 1 uR/hr to 1000 R/hr capability at the same time.
Talk to:
Thea Philliou
Portables Product Manager
Thermo Eberline
504 Airport Rd.
Santa Fe, NM 87507
Tel.505-428-3527
Fax.505-428-3535
Email: tphilliou@thermoeberline.com
Website: www.thermoeberline.com
You can also buy contamination probes that can detect alpha-beta-gamma for
the same FH 40 GL meter. These meters are the easiest to use that I have
seen. TThe FHZ732 (gas proportional pancake) contamination probe can
changed between measuring alpha radiation or alpha-beta-gamma with a couple
button presses. A ZnS 100 cm2 Alpha/Alpha-Beta-Gamma probes are available
as well.
By the way, in our courses we also use radiation instrumentation from:
Aloka, Automess, Bicron, CDV (Victoreen, Landry, Lionel), Eberline, Ludlum,
NE Technology, SAIC, Sensor Technology, and others.
Note: the mention of a specific manufacturer's product does imply an
endorsement of that product by Bechtel Nevada, the U.S Department of Energy,
or the U.S. Department of Justice.
For more information about the Department of Justice ODP and its training
programs, go to
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/ta/training.htm
or call the DOJ ODP helpline at 1-800-368-6498.
The WMD courses currently being taught by the National Center for Exercise
Excellence (NCEE) through March 2002 are:
Weapons of Mass Destruction Radiological/Nuclear Responder Operations Course
(Dec 10-13, Feb 11-14, Mar 4-7),
Weapons of Mass Destruction Radiological/Nuclear Course for Hazardous
Materials Technicians (Nov 12-15, Dec 17-20 Jan 7-10, Feb 4-7),
WMD Exercise Development (Part I) (Train-the-trainer at the local
responders' city)
WMD Practical Exercise (Part II) (Conducting exercises at the NCEE)
These courses above are free of charge to emergency responder personnel.
The costs are covered by
the Department of Justice ODP for responders with prior approval by their
state's DOJ State Administrative Agency. Call the DOJ ODP helpline at
1-800-368-6498 for information on the State Administrative Agency for your
state.
Other courses that are available, but not sponsored by the Department of
Justice are:
WMD Radiological/Nuclear Civil Support Team (CST) Operations
WMD Chemical Biological Radiological Responder Operations
WMD Incident Command Operations
For more information on any of the above courses, feel free to contact me
at:
Rick Hansen
Bechtel Nevada
U.S. Department of Energy/NNSA
Counterterrorism Operations Support Senior Scientist
(tel) 702-295-7813
hansenrg@nv.doe.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Sandgren [mailto:peter.sandgren@PO.STATE.CT.US]
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 8:06 AM
To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: survey meter question
Wow! Thank you all so much for the many (20+) responses to my
question.
I worked at a defense plant and subsequently a nuke plant but that was
over 20 years ago. Don't have much experience outside of the yellow civil
defense meters (CDV 700 and 715 made by Victoreen, Landry, Lionel, etc.)
since those days.
The meters would be for use by select first responders with, at the
very
minimum, training at the hazmat technician level including radiological
monitoring.
I will sum up the recommendations in a later posting. Thanks again!
This
list reaches a wealth of valuable professional experience, and I'm grateful
for the many responses!
Peter Sandgren
Training Division
Connecticut Office of Emergency Management
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