Homeland Security Applications of Radiological Detection

Cross functional teams at GE Research are demonstrating breakthrough applications of radiation detectors for homeland security applications. By integrating together sensitive radiation detectors from medical and industrial imaging with target tracking and sensor technologies the radiation detectors team has built systems that solve important challenges in security and defense.

In the Radiation Awareness and Interdiction Network (RAIN) program, funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), the radiation detectors team built and demonstrated a system that can detect in real time radioactive materials concealed in vehicles moving at highway speeds. The system pictured below consists of multiple large volume scintillator detectors for high detection efficiency with custom designed large-area cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector arrays for superb energy resolution. Vehicles location is determined with millimeter resolution using a LiDAR scanner and real time imagery is captured with a video system.

In other homeland security programs the detectors team have developed hand held and portable CZT detector systems with directional detection capability based on Compton Imaging, with highly accurate isotope identification, real time orientation compensation and GPS.

All of systems developed at GE Research have real-time streaming to a computer base station for data collection. A web-based interface is provided for managing experimental data collection or for monitoring operations in the field. The software is based on open standards to enable porting to virtually any platform and scaling up, including cloud-based infrastructure.