First measurement using COUNTERFOG device: Nuclear and radiological scenario

Abstract

Nowadays, radioactive materials are widely used in medicine, agriculture, industry and scientific research. This implies a growing accessibility and their potential use for criminal or terrorist purposes, i.e. as Radioactive Dispersion Device (RDD) or as Radiation Emission Device (RED). In light of these new threats, currently there are no countermeasures available that can respond quickly and automatically to mitigate their possible consequences. Therefore, the need arises to design and to implement new countermeasure systems that will act in the face of a CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives) incident, even in the presence of fire. This is the main goal of the COUNTERFOG project, which proposed a countermeasure system based on the generation of a fog that interact with the dispersed aerosols. The objectives of the project range from the design and manufacture of nozzles able to generate the required fog, to planning and execution of the experimental procedure to evaluate its effectiveness. This work presents the results of the application of the COUNTERFOG system to the cleaning of RN surrogates, dispersed in the environment simulating the detonation of a RDD device.