Field Detection of Depleted Uranium Final Report of Tasking W28476KR00Z (DSSPM)
Abstract
At the request of Defence Services Procurement Project 00002199, DREO has undertaken a study to examine the capabilities of commercial radiation detection equipment for the detection of depleted uranium (DU) on the battlefield. This work is intended to guide doctrine development for procedures to be followed where DU use or contamination is suspected. This work involved some spectroscopic studies of DU munitions, and detection trials with a variety of DU sources, from large spheres to low-activity area sources. The effect of shielding by tissue was also studied, and a trip was made to the Superbox facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground to assess the possibility for field trials of Canadian Forces (CF) equipment in an actual DU-contaminated environment. This study established a number of important facts regarding DU detection by the CF. It was shown that while commercial equipment can detect alpha, beta, and gamma emission by uranium sources, beta detection is by far the preferred method to be used for contamination surveys. The sensitivity of the ABP-100 alpha-beta probe (in beta mode) for DU is approximately 0.5 Bq/sq cm when the contamination is over a large area. However, because the attenuation of beta radiation by tissue is so great, the efficacy of this detector for detecting shards of DU embedded in wounds is much poorer. Thus, while these devices may be sufficient for detecting DU contamination on vehicles, it is probably insufficient for DU screening of wounds.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA384540
Entities
People
- Dean S. Haslip
- Diego Estan
- Tom Cousins
- Trevor A. Jones
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada