The Richland laboratory also has a device it developed already in production for detecting radioactive particles released from aboveground nuclear explosions. While the basic technique has been available for three decades, Richland researchers have refined the device to make it automatic and sensitive enough to detect tiny amounts of radioactive material. The first commercial unit has been operating for several months in Florida. Those units also are being manufactured to verify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The United States will use 11 machines at its monitoring sites, and other countries are interested in buying the machines because they are automated.
Information is collected with no help from humans and transmitted by satellite or modem.
The machines filter large volumes of air each day using filter paper similar to that used in home furnaces. It finds radioactive particles that stick to dust particles. Earlier models have detected all the known aboveground tests and the Chernobyl accident, Miley said. Copyright 1998 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.