IEEE N42 Radiation Detection Standards Available to the Public

[Donivan Porterfield <dporterfield@nnsa.net>]

IEEE N42 Radiation Detection Standards Available to the Public



BY ERICA VONDERHEID



Four new standards governing the design and testing of nuclear radiation 

detectors are available for downloading at no charge through the IEEE/ANSI 

N42 Radiation Detection Standards Program. This is possible thanks to 

efforts of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) in cooperation with the 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).



The standards were written by a subcommittee of the American National 

Standards Institute (ANSI) composed of the U.S. Department of Commerce.s 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with 

IEEE-SA. The ANSI subcommittee created the standards for 

readiation-detection equipment so that local safety officials.the so-called 

first responders, such as police and fire departments.could verify that 

their equipment is working properly. The standards-writing working group 

found that previous standards for detecting nuclear radiation had been 

written for equipment used for health care applications in hospitals or 

universities, and not to detect a hidden .dirty bomb.. Such bombs, 

consisting of radioactive materials packed with conventional explosives, 

such as TNT, can disperse radioactivity over a wide area.



IEEE-SA supported widespread adoption and use of the standards and worked 

closely with DHS to make public access available, resulting in 

better-calibrated equipment for first responders, according to IEEE member 

Michael Unterweger, a member of the working group.



.The program is important for first responders to make sure their equipment 

works properly to do the job they have to do,. Unterweger says.



If made to adhere to the standards, radiation-detection equipment from 

different manufacturers should operate uniformly, and equipment performance 

could then be evaluated in a uniform manner as well, says Jerry Walker, 

director of IEEE-SA business development, the area that oversees this project.



Performance Guidelines

The four standards are performance standards, meaning they contain 

technical guidelines the detection equipment must meet. Two standards cover 

hand-held instruments that detect the presence and intensity of gamma 

radiation (standard N42.33-2003) and neutron radiation (N42.32-2003). A 

third standard, N42.35-2003, is for stationary radiation-detection 

equipment that vehicles, packages, and people can pass through. Such 

equipment works in much the same way as a metal detector at an airport. The 

fourth standard, N42.34-2003, applies to hand-held equipment that 

identifies the kind of radioactive material present. (The .N42. that begins 

each standard number indicates that the standard was developed by the ANSI 

N42 committee on nuclear instrumentation.)



Fast Track

The work to develop the four standards began in late 2002, when DHS.then 

the Office of Homeland Security.realized that police and security personnel 

reacting to threats of dirty bombs were using radiation-detection equipment 

that was not standardized. So IEEE-SA, DHS, and NIST formed a working group 

to write standards for the equipment. The project was put on the fast track 

and the first four standards, covering the most common types of nuclear 

radiation-detection equipment, were published in about a year.



Next, the working group is writing standards for detecting radiation using 

other, less common devices. Once those are completed, IEEE-SA will post 

them on the same program.s Web site for download at no charge. The site 

will be available for several years.



To access the standards, visit http://standards.ieee.org/getN42



N42.32-2003, American National Standard Performance Criteria for Alarming 

Personal Radiation Detectors for Homeland Security



N42.33-2003, American National Standard for Portable Radiation Detection 

Instrumentation for Homeland Security



N42.34-2003, American National Standard Performance Criteria for Hand-held 

Instruments for the Detection and Identification of Radionuclides



N42.35-2003, American National Standard for Evaluation and Performance of 

Radiation Detection Portal Monitors







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