Most people are unaware of how much radiation monitoring is going on around them all the time, including in public places. For example, airports are equipped with advanced radiation detectors. In 2022, facilities at Heathrow flagged a parcel that turned out to contain a diminutive amount of uranium. The authorities then assured that there was no threat to the population.
Mirion is one of several companies producing radiation detectors. Its products are used in defense and security applications, as well as in nuclear power plants, laboratories and research environments. “If an event such as a fuel leak occurs at a nuclear power plant, these systems will be connected to the nuclear power plant’s safety system and the nuclear power plant will therefore be shut down,” explains James Cocks, chief technology officer. Area monitors draw particulate matter emitted by power plants onto filter paper, which can be analyzed to determine whether an uncontrolled release of radiation has occurred.
The company even produces a radiation detector designed to fit onto the underside of the drone. Cocks says that in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima explosion, the need to collect radiation data was such that someone rode a motorcycle with a radiation detector. Today, he suggests, drones would be a safer way to collect such information.
But Mirion also produces handheld detectors that can be worn by staff observing major sporting events, for example. They can distinguish between different types of radiation. For example, you want to be able to tell whether higher-than-usual readings are coming from a sullied bomb or simply someone who has recently undergone radioisotope treatment. “We can determine whether it is naturally occurring background radiation, whether it is a medical radioisotope or whether it is a fission product,” Cocks says.
So one of the effects of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters is that we now have vastly improved radiation monitoring systems all over the world. In the wake of these accidents, there has been a significant raise in radiation tracing efforts, Kearfott says.
Bonner admits that some people feel anxious about radiation – every once in a while, a volunteer would build a Safecast detector, turn it on, and “panic” when it started detecting activity, he says. But it’s essential to show how pervasive and variable background radiation actually is, he says: “We absolutely believe that informing people about what’s going on is reassuring.”