The International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction
Publications / 1989 Proceedings of the 6th ISARC, San Francisco, USA
RTRAK - A First Generation Automated Construction Vehicle
RTRAK is a mobile, computer based, gamma scanning and radiation mapping system developed by Chem-Nuclear Systems and MK-Ferguson Company for use on the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project. Verification of large land areas contaminated with uranium mill tailings for compliance with U.S. EPA standards for 226-Ra in soil is an expensive and labor intensive process using traditional methods. The EPA criteria require measurement of 226-Ra concentrations over discrete 100 square meter (centihectare) land areas. In some areas of the west and southwest, windblown contaminants cover many thousands of centihectares. In the UMTRA project, one site alone will require verification of over 40,000 centihectares. A computer based, mobile gamma scanning vehicle has been developed that can correlate in-situ gama measurements with 226-Ra concentrations, associate that data with microwave generated x, y grid locations, and plot relative radionuclides concentrations on the computer display as it is collected. The system is capable of marking areas that do not meet the appropriate criteria to expedite further cleanup. The data is stored on magnetic media for archival or analysis at a later date to provide a variety of reports.