The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) this week awarded contracts to General Electric‘s [GE] Global Research Center, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and SAIC [SAI] worth a combined $33 million to develop Stand-Off Radiation Detection Systems (SORDS) that can automatically determine the type and location of radiation sources at distances much greater than current technology.
“The SORDS approach, if validated, could be used in a wide range of monitoring applications including border crossings, sea lanes and air surveillance,” Vayl Oxford, DNDO director, said in a statement. “This program could create a significant increase in capability for monitoring the illicit movement or radiation sources.”
In addition to being able to increase ranges for stand-off detection, the companies are expected to develop radiation detectors that can reliably discriminate between normally- occuring radioactive materials, background and potential threats.
The detectors that are developed under SORDS are expected to be the size of vehicles and have the capability to determine direction, flux, energy, and isotope of detected radiation, as well as the location of the radiation source. Another goal is to develop detectors that have low false alarm rates.
The contract awards for SORDS are the result of a Broad Agency Announcement DNDO made last December seeking proposals for the research, development and demonstration of gamma- ray detection technologies that have greater stand-off ranges than current technologies. DNDO said at the time it also hopes to detect shielded sources of radiation.
Another goal of the program is for the systems to be mobile and able to perform all functions while moving during routine operations.
SAIC currently provides radiation portal monitors used to passively scan cargo, containers and vehicles for radiation at land and sea ports of entry in the United States and overseas.