Radiological monitoring systems and their specific application in nuclear facilities

Radiological monitoring installations are needed, and are most useful, in all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, in radioactive waste management, and in decommissioning nuclear plants. Plant-specific systems are used especially to characterize and identify radioactive substances and waste, and in the operation of waste treatment centers. Greater efficiency is achieved by using this equipment for specific plant-dependent measurements on which decisions are based. Points in case are the higher tluoughputs attainable in waste treatment plants by supporting data management by an additional plant-specific data tracking system. For this purpose, RWE NUKEM GmbH developed a comprehensive range of monitoring systems over the past few years. They can be modified as a function of requirements and can be tailored to specific applications. These systems mainly include facilities for identifying fissile material and determining the burnup of spent fuel, systems for waste classification and waste separation, and for characterizing radioactive waste or conducting clearance measurements of potentially radioactive waste. The measuring techniques employed in these systems have been known and proven for a long time. They are the basis also of present monitoring systems. However, specific requirements and the need for optimized plant-specific designs have led to advanced measuring techniques. Especially the skillful combination of measurement systems and the use of fast PCs have produced powerful monitoring systems for a variety of routine applications.