Automated Vehicle and Waste Package Survey System

SEC provides radiological control services for the D&D of the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Oak Ridge TN. The demolition of the structure of the building has been initiated. Building debris will be disposed in a waste management facility on the Oak Ridge Reservation. This will require an estimated 70,000 truck shipments and each truck shipment must be inspected for radiological contamination. The inspection process includes measurements with hand held survey instruments and preparation of a “clearance ticket.” We developed a system for automatically generating the clearance ticket in order to reduce costs. The system automates data collection and report preparation by using a programmable handheld data terminal (HDT) that acquires the instrument readings and prints a preformatted clearance ticket. We estimate that the number of labor hours required to perform these truck inspections will be reduced by 33% compared to previous methods. The key to success for this project was developing a simple software interface that provides a graphic diagram of the truck and the survey points, provides step-by-step directions and status during the inspection, and enters data onto a preformatted report that can be printed directly from the HDT. Symbols differentiate the contact and smear measurements. The inspector simply positions the instrument probe and presses a button on the HDT to acquire data. The HDT software evaluates each measurement and instructs the inspector to continue taking measurements or respond to elevated levels of contamination. When the survey is completed, the HDT provides a clearance message on the LCD screen and the inspector may proceed to the next truck survey. At the end of the work turn, the stored results are printed for review and signature. Although the time required to complete the measurements is not reduced, the time required to prepare documentation is drastically condensed. Although the initial implementation is limited to surveying large trucks, the process may be extended to any repetitive waste management survey, such as inspections of shipping packages. Future versions of the software may also be expanded to minimize the time required for each measurement.