Undergraduate Laboratory in Environmental Radioactivity Measurements

该项目指导高级放射卫生工程师，核工程师，安全工程师和工业工程师在测量环境中放射性水平的适当技术和程序。 在切尔诺贝利和三里岛事故发生后的几年里，这一领域已成为核工业的一个主要焦点。 该课程利用国家的最先进的技术，以使本科生接触到新的辐射探测器已经在现代环境分析实验室使用。 除了实验室方面，还使用了三个现场演习，包括紧急反应演习和实地考察当地核反应堆公用事业。 该课程包括测量环境辐射场、环境样品收集和分析、微量元素分析、氡分析、职业辐射场测量和辐射应急反应等部分。 在这个时候，没有其他机构提供一个完整的实验室课程，这些主题。 这门课的高潮是一次辐射应急反应演习，学生们参加了每年一次的核管理委员会要求的反应堆事故演习，演习地点是学校的一个研究反应堆。 这一阶段允许学生使用便携式辐射探测器来量化任何污染周围的设施使用本学期提出的技术。

This project instructs senior-level Radiological Health Engineers, Nuclear Engineers, Safety Engineers, and Industrial Hygienists in the proper techniques and procedures for measuring radioactivity levels in the environment. This area has become a major focus of the nuclear industry in the years following the accidents at Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island. The course utilizes state-of-the-art technology in order to expose undergraduates to new radiation detectors already in use in modern environmental analysis laboratories. In addition to the laboratory aspect, three in-field exercises are used, including an emergency response drill and field trips to local nuclear reactor utilities. The course contains sections on measuring environmental radiation fields, environmental sample collection and analysis, trace element analysis, radon assay analysis, measurements of occupational radiation fields, and radiological emergency response. At this time, no other institution offers a complete laboratory course on these topics. The class culminates in a radiological emergency response drill in which students participate in the annual NRC required reactor accident drill at one of the school's research reactors. This phase allows students to use portable radiation detectors to quantify any contamination surrounding the facility using techniques presented during the semester.