Electrical Engineer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland, Washington, United States
Mobile transport of industrial radiological sources introduces many challenges in source security, one of which is the unique identification and detection of sources between storage and use. While there are methods for tracking shipments, the true identification of a source cannot be reliably tied to shipping information. To better address this issue, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed and patented a new mobile source detection device, with the sponsorship of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Radiological Security (ORS), called the TRI-tag (Tamper Radiation Identification tag). The TRI-tag has been developed in conjunction with the Mobile Source Transit Security (MSTS) system to aid in detecting and identifying radiological sources used and transported in industrial applications.
Initially targeted for the oil well logging industry, the TRI-tag provides precision in locating and detecting radiological sources, with its key feature being the detection of source activity levels. This data is processed by the tag to identify the presence of a source within a transport container or source shield. The device is a low-powered electronic tag that can be mounted directly onto a radiological source transport or storage container. The tag broadcasts data that can be used to identify, locate, and monitor tagged sources, providing users with up to 3 years of battery life. TRI-tag data received by other MSTS devices with location service allow users to determine the relative location of tagged sources.
With these enhancements, users of the TRI-tag will be able to locate a tagged container and quickly determine the presence of a source inside. When used with the MSTS systems, users will receive near-real-time event notifications when a source is removed from its container. This will assure users that any anomalous events during transport can be quickly addressed, increasing the security and control of mobile sources.
