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ANTECH - Model G3102-4216 -Excavator Mounted Bucket Assay System - EMBASSY
The ANTECH excavator mounted bucket assay system (EMBASSY) model G3102-4216 is a system designed to measure the radioactive contents of an excavator bucket. It can be employed to detect, measure and segregate radionuclide contamination in soil, gravel and rubble.The contaminates may include naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) such as Ra-226 and activation and fission products such as Co-60 and Cs-137. The EMBASSY system was developed in partnership with Studsvik. The EMBASSY unit is mounted on the front of an excavator for deployment in the field. The assay is performed with a large volume spectroscopic scintillation detector which is housed in a shadow shield. The great advantage of the EMBASSY system is that contaminated soil is segregated at the source. Uncontaminated material may be returned to the excavation site and no further handling is required.
- Robust real time sentencing decisions that will ensure compliance with transport and disposal regulations
- Site clearance projects will be optimised by allowing real time decisions to be made. This speeds up the sentencing programme and can support project acceleration
- Project acceleration will in turn save the cost of extended site attendance and minimise site based overheads such as equipment hire
- Doses received by the workforce can be minimised by preventing double handling of the waste
- Enables back-fill excavations during the process
- Instant determination of whether material is In-scope or Out of Scope of EPR10
- Removes the requirement for an extensive sampling campaign – time and cost and coverage (confidence in the sampling regime)
- 100% of material assayed giving full confidence in sentencing as ANTECH have a proven track record in providing assay solutions
Radionuclides that can be assayed include both activation products (such as Co-60) and fission products (such as Cs137). The device consists of a high efficiency 4” x 2”x 16” collimated thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) scintillation detector (relative efficiency of greater than 200%). The detector housing contains shielding to block interfering background gamma radiation and is temperature controlled, in order to mitigate the effects of drifts in the detector’s energy and efficiency calibrations due to temperature variation. The detector is also mounted in a manner to minimise the effects of vibration due to excavator operations.
The detector housing can be demounted from the excavator for period of intense vibration, such as when driving over hard surfaces such as concreted roadways
The shielded detector unit is fixed to a shaft with a cam such that the shielded detector can move up and down the shaft and simultaneously rotate as required. The shaft is fixed at two positions to the heavy steel protective grille, which is fitted to the cab of the excavator.
The mechanism allows the shielded detector to be stored in a position at the top of the cab grille assembly – away from the dangerous working area of the excavator bucket. Once the bucket has been filled, it is levelled and moved to a pre-determined position in front of the cab grille - in line with a spring-loaded rod fixed to the front of the cab. Using an electric cable hoist, the shielded detector is moved and rotated to a position immediately above the contents of the excavator bucket for the measurement.