ANSI N42.34 Testing of Canberra Hand-Held Identifiers

ABSTRACT

Canberra Industries recently developed a new hand-held gamma spectrometer for Homeland Security applications for the detection and identification of radionuclides. This instrument, the Inspector 1000, uses Sodium Iodide probes. The performance requirements for hand-held identifiers for Homeland Security applications are defined in Standard N42.34, recently issued by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Based on a draft of this new standard, a test plan was developed to evaluate the performance of the Inspector 1000 with respect to the indicated criteria. The results of the subsequent measurements and analyses are presented. Challenges encountered during the evaluation are discussed.

INTRODUCTION

To meet the new security challenges presented by terrorist threats, a new generation of inexpensive yet capable hand-held instruments for the detection and identification of radionuclides is required. This necessity has been recognized, along with the need to have performance criteria to drive the development and appraisal of such instruments. One of the primary standards in this regard is the recently issued American National Standards Institute Standard N42.34 – Performance Criteria for Hand-Held Instruments for the Detection and Identification of Radionuclides (ANSI N42.34) [1]. Canberra Industries, Inc. has recently developed a new hand-held gamma spectrometer, the Inspector 1000, designed for Homeland Security applications in accordance with ANSI N42.34. A test plan to evaluate the performance of the Inspector 1000 per a draft of ANSI N42.34 was implemented, with the resulting measurements and results presented in this report.