Drone-Assisted Detection of Radioactive Sources: An Innovative and Safe Solution

摘要

The use of unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs or drones) for work or recreation has gained popularity. It has been innovately suggested that this technology could be employed to efficiently monitor air contaminants and better document environmental nuisances, individual health impacts, mortality rates, environmental protection, and other matters of growing interests for environmental scientists. An R&D project partnership between the Centre de recherche industrielle du Quebec (CRIQ), DroneXperts and the Centre d'expertise en analyse environnementale du Quebec (CEAEQ) has led to the development, manufacture and testing of an innovative drone-assisted system that collects ambient air samples and measures airborne contaminants on sites that are hazardous or difficult to access using conventional means. This presentation will first summarize the "DronAir" concept that was developed as well as the technical features that make it one of the most complete drone-assisted airborne sampling and measurement systems currently available. It will then focus on the outcomes of tests that were conducted in May 2018 and compare three instrument models used for detecting ground-based sources of radioactivity. Lastly, we will examine potential uses of this type of drone-assisted system for safely pinpointing sources of radioactive contamination, and measuring them. This new technology will prove useful for fires and transportation accidents involving hazardous materials, radioactive residues found at various sites, detection of radiation stemming from nuclear power plant incident, the search for sources in inaccessible areas, and so on.