Adaptable Radiation Area Monitors (ARAM)

Road Patrol

October / November 2009 By: Steve Wampler Volume 7 Number 5

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A radiation detection technology developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists is being employed by state and local governments to monitor for nuclear materials that could be part of a "dirty bomb" or nuclear device.The radiation detection advance has been licensed to—€”and converted into counterterrorism tools by—€”by Textron Defense Systems Corp., a firm headquartered in Wilmington, Mass.

So far, one western state has deployed more than a score of the radiation detectors, called the adaptable radiation area monitor (ARAM), and placed them at vehicular entrances to that state to monitor for nuclear materials. The ARAM systems can detect concealed radioactive material about the size of a grain of sand moving at 45 miles per hour, nearly freeway speed. A second state, New Jersey, has acquired from Textron a fleet of SUVs outfitted with the ARAM detection technology to patrol its highways and streets for nuclear materials.
The New Jersey SUVs, known as RadTrucks, have been in operation for more than two years, as the state joined multiple agencies in the New York City region in a federal pilot program to detect terrorist nuclear material before it can be detonated. The prototype for the RadTruck, developed by LLNL, was first fielded in the New York/New Jersey region and was used by the homeland security state authorities during the 2004 Republican National Convention.

The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, in concert with the state police, have collaborated in the acquisition and utilization of these detection assets. These agencies have cooperatively addressed the use of the RadTrucks for everyday patrols, as well as for the vital role they are expected to play in the event of emergent circumstances, said Capt. Dennis McNulty, the chief of the police's transportation safety bureau.

New Jersey's RadTrucks are remarkably simple to use, said state trooper Dave Gatto, who was quoted in a Philadelphia Inquirer article. Gatto said that after 10 hours of training he could tell the difference between the radioactive signatures emitted by uranium, cesium, and plutonium and even mundane sources such as kitty litter.

In addition to New Jersey, a second state has purchased RadTrucks and other states have expressed interest in acquiring units, said Brian Adlawan, program director for detection systems for Textron. "This isn't only a technology that's been licensed," Adlawan said. "It's been turned into products and is on the market for federal, state and local agencies to use to help protect against terrorism."

One advantage of the technology, according to Adlawan, is that it can be rapidly redeployed based on intelligence and new developments. Another bonus is that the technology allows state agencies to continue their normal law enforcement functions, along with monitoring for nuclear materials.

Developed by a team of LLNL scientists and engineers, the versatile ARAM detection system was designed to be an all-purpose monitor or "everyman's tool" for spotting nuclear materials. The ARAM inventors have received two patents and in 2005 won a R&D 100 award as one of the top industrial inventions in the world. ARAM can be deployed in a host of ways—€”as a portable detector in an SUV, as a vehicle monitor alongside freeways, as a pedestrian portal monitor, as a package or luggage detector and as a fixed and portable maritime detector.
Operating at room temperatures, ARAM can detect gamma rays and, with the assistance of a helium-3 neutron detector, also can monitor for neutrons.

The system relies on a minimum number of components, including a sodium iodide detector, multi-channel analyzer, computer and sophisticated LLNL control and commercial analysis software. It acquires 1,024 channels of data 10 times per second, which allows the control software a higher probability of detection and provides the commercial analysis software with the highest quality data for identification.

"This type of system gives us a better chance of not only picking up that there's radiation, but the type of radiation, whether it's a medical isotope or a terrorist device," said Dave Trombino, a nuclear engineer at LLNL and one of the ARAM developers.

"The technological breakthrough of this system is buried in the software, which controls the data collection and analysis," Trombino said. "One of Livermore's strengths is signal processing capabilities and we relied on those skills to write our own software to be able to perform our own analysis. The ARAM technology has demonstrated its effectiveness through its use by various state agencies. The —€˜A' in ARAM stands for adaptable, and this technology has proven that to be the case as it has been used in trucks, placed it along highways and now is being looked at for maritime applications."

Some of the other radiation detection technologies developed by LLNL researchers that have been licensed and turned into products are "The Detective" and the "Fission Meter," both licensed to Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based AMETEK's Advanced Measurement Technology ORTEC Division.

Steve Wampler is an LLNL public information officer.