Nuclear Facility Radiation

Monitoring System
Keiichi Ooi
Katsumi Yasutomo
Zenjiro Suzuki

1. Introduction to-1 correspondence.

Applying the conventional system configuration to
Radiation control at nuclear power facilities is im- a monitoring system having a large number of radia-
plemented in accordance with various laws and regula- tion monitors distributed throughout multiple facilities
tions for the safety of workers in the facility and local would require the construction of an enormous hard-
residents. Radiation monitoring systems are critical ware structure, and this was a limiting factor for sys-
systems that operate 24 hours a day, monitoring the tem construction.
radiation conditions in work environments inside the Recently, as radiation control at nuclear power fa-
facility and the radiation concentrations in air and flu- cilities becomes more advanced, radiation monitoring
ids discharged outside the facility. systems are being required to provide improved reli-
In a radiation monitoring system, the data signals ability, labor saving maintenance and inspections, and
from radiation detectors installed at each worksite are enhanced monitoring functions.
transmitted to a central control room where radiation Meanwhile, there has been remarkable progress in
levels and alarm activation are monitored on a ra- the development of IC and other semiconductor tech-
diation monitoring panel and where a radiation control nology, transmission processing technology and data
computer processes the data and outputs the data on a processing technology.
display or as a printout. Under these conditions, Fuji Electric is providing
In conventional systems, extremely weak radia- large-scale radiation monitoring systems that incorpo-
tion signals had to be converted into electrical signals, rate the latest technology, and this paper introduces
amplified and then transmitted. Furthermore, the these systems.
detection mechanisms differed according to the type
of radiation to be measured, and as a result, the latter 2. Overview
stage signal transmission methods also differed, and
the radiation detectors installed at each worksite and Fuji Electric has developed radiation monitoring
the radiation monitoring panel which installed in the systems in accordance with the following objectives.
central control room were connected by cables in a 1- (1) To develop new semiconductor radiation sensors in

Fig.1 Concept of nuclear power facility radiation monitoring system

Radiation monitors Data transmission system Monitoring system

Media
Area
converter
monitor Ethernet Ethernet Radiation
detectors monitoring
panel

Dust
monitor
detectors
Computer
system
Gas
monitor
detectors

114 Vol. 53 No. 4 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW

 order to increase the detection sensitivity (efficien- always-on self-diagnostic function and a remote auto-
cy). mated inspection function were added to realize labor
(2) To make radiation detectors more intelligent and savings for maintenance and inspections. Additionally,
to improve their reliability and maintainabil- the radiation sensor uses a newly developed large-size
ity, to integrate into a radiation detector the char- semiconductor sensor.
acteristic functions for radiation measurement A data transmission system can be constructed
(configured with custom circuits for each type of flexibly according to the number of detectors to be con-
radiation to be measured, α-ray, β-ray, γ-ray and so nected and the size of the facility. Figure 1 shows a
on, since signal levels vary according the type of schematic diagram of a large-scale system in the case
measurement) having been distributed previously where Ethernet is used as the transmission interface.
between a central control room and onsite loca- Each radiation detector's output is in Ethernet 100
tions, and to use a general-purpose transmission BASE-TX format, transmitted through a media con-
interface. verter to transfer large quantities of data optically to a
(3) To incorporate the latest data transmission tech- central radiation monitoring and control system.
nology in the transmission of signals from the ra-
diation detectors to a central control room or to a 3. Radiation Monitors
radiation control computer, and to achieve higher
reliability and faster transmission speeds for large The functional configuration of a radiation detec-
amounts of data. tor is shown in Fig. 2. Previously, radiation monitors
The configuration of a developed system based on were provided with onsite sensors and pre-amps only,
these objectives is shown in Fig. 1. and the remaining functions were all housed in a ra-
All the functions required to measure radiation diation monitoring panel. In the past, a monitor loop
were successfully installed in a radiation monitor, and was formed by assembling multiple hardware modules
the signal processing results are output as digital data. according to the type of each sensor, but now using a
The transmission interface is the IEEE-802.3 standard
(Ethernet*1), regardless of the type of monitor, and an *1: Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox Corp., USA.

Fig.2 Radiation detector functions and configuration

Pulse Pulse height Pulse Data Measured

Sensor Pre-amp Selector
shaping discriminator counter processor values, etc.
Time constant processing
I /O interface

Pulse Unit conversion

Light Testing Alarm
pulse evaluation unit Alarms Ethernet
circuit
generator
Alarm setting value storage
Alarm evaluation
(highest, high, low)
Self- Self-diagnostic Failure details
diagnostic
circuit unit Test results
Failure alarm evaluation
Test result evaluation

Bias Low voltage +24 V power supply

source power supply
Sensor part Measurement part

Table 1 Types and main functions of radiation detectors

Main specifications
Monitor types
Detectors Measurement range
−2 4
Ionization chamber detector 10 to 10 µSv / h
γ-ray area monitor −1 4
Semiconductor detector 10 to 10 µSv / h
3 −2 4
Neutron area monitor He proportional counter tube 10 to 10 µSv / h
−2 4
α-ray dust monitor Semiconductor detector 10 to 10 s−1 (cps)
−1 5
β-ray dust monitor Semiconductor detector 10 to 10 s−1 (cps)
−1 5
β-ray gas monitor Plastic scintillation detector 10 to 10 s−1 (cps)
−1 5
Iodine monitor NaI (Tl) scintillation detector 10 to 10 s−1 (cps)

Nuclear Facility Radiation Monitoring System 115

single-chip micro computer, and all these functions are circuit by incrementing and decrementing inputted
incorporated into a single CPU board and housed in data and verifying the alarm output.
the detector. (3) Maximum and minimum calibration
A radiation detector consists of a sensor part and a An internal test circuit produces electrical pulses
measuring part. Common functions that do not depend which are counted to verify the maximum and mini-
on the type of monitor are provided in the measuring mum limits of the measurement range.
part and functions that differ according to the type of Table 1 lists the main specifications of radiation
radiation to be measured are provided in the sensor detectors.
part. Figure 3 shows a neutron area monitor detec-
The radiation detector has the following always- tor. The energy range to be measured is 0.025 eV to
on self-diagnostic functions, and sends an automatic 15 MeV, which sufficiently covers the range of energy of
transmission to the data monitoring and control sys- neutrons emitted from a nuclear power facility. (Exter-
tem when an abnormality occurs. nal dimensions: approx. 257 mm (dia.) × 388 mm (H) ×
(1) Continuous monitoring of discrimination level 250 mm (dia.) (bottom); Mass: approx. 15 kg.)
(2) Continuous bias voltage monitoring Figure 4 shows a semiconductor γ-ray area moni-
(3) CPU checking (RAM, ROM) tor detector that is capable of measuring energy in
(4) Continuous DO / AO monitoring the range from 55 to 1,500 keV. (External dimensions:
(5) Continuous monitoring for temperature abnor- 120 mm (W) × 100 mm (D) × 190 mm (H); Mass: approx
malities 1.3 kg.)
Additionally, the radiation detector also has a func- Figure 5 shows the measurement part combined
tion for receiving remote commands from the central with the detector (sensor). The front panel has an
control room, implementing the following tests auto- LCD display, and can display measured radiation val-
matically, and notifying the central control room of the ues. Various settings and operations are controlled by
results. a dedicated infrared ray remote controller. Changes
(1) Light pulse test to the alarm setting value and the like can be accom-
An internal light pulse generator produces light plished by remote operation via a LAN. An alarm dis-
pulses to verify the integrity of the entire monitor play is installed on the upper side, and alarms can be
loop, including the sensors. The frequency of the light displayed or sounded at an onsite location. (External
pulses can be set arbitrarily by the radiation monitor- dimensions: 190 mm (W) × 70 mm (D) × 242 mm (H),
ing system. not including projections; Mass: approx. 2.7 kg.)
(2) Alarm test The interface specifications for transmitting data
This test verifies the integrity of an internal alarm to the center from the measuring part are as follows.
(1) Transmission method: IEEE-802.3 standard (Eth-
Fig.3 Neutron area monitor detector ernet)
(2) Transmission data: Radiation measurement val-
ues, alarm contents, failure contents, test results,
etc.

Fig.5 Measurement part

Fig.4 Semiconductor γ-ray area monitor detector

116 Vol. 53 No. 4 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW

Fig.6 Configuration of nuclear power facility radiation monitoring system

Radiation monitoring panel

Optical Ethernet
MC

MC Central
Computer
Each monitor Connection box-1 Ethernet
HUB HUB
(max. 30 CH) PLC/A system
MC Ethernet
(max. 30 CH)
HUB
Maximum 30 monitors
in single Ethernet loop PE link

Ethernet
MC
(max. 30 CH)
Ethernet PLC/B system
Each monitor HUB Connection box-n HUB
(max. 30 CH)
MC
Optical Ethernet
MC PE link

SX-bus Maintenance
Display Ethernet
computer
(backup data)
Alarm PLC/C system HUB
indicator lamp
MC : Media converter
HUB : Ethernet switching hub
Recorder
PLC : Programmable logic controller
PE link, SX-bus : Fuji’s original LAN

Fig.7 Example of central computer display monitoring panel. A maximum of 3 radiation monitor
channels are connected to a HUB and are installed at a
suitable location according to the layout of the facility.
A pair of programmable controllers (PLC/A and
PLC / B) are installed in the radiation monitoring panel,
and are connected to each side of the optical Ethernet
via a MC. Radiation monitoring data is transmitted
every second to both of these controllers, enabling data
to be acquired even when there is mechanical failure
of a LAN device onsite or in the monitoring panel. Ad-
ditionally, each radiation monitor is also provided with
an Ethernet interface and can transmit data directly
to a central computer. Figure 7 shows an example of a
central computer display.
The HUB is shared by the system, and may be re-
placed in the case of failure. The PLC / C implements
essential command, data recording and alarm func-
tions at the radiation monitoring panel.

5. Postscript
4. System Configuration
This paper has introduced Fuji Electric’s nuclear
The development of radiation monitors having facility radiation monitoring systems. The systems and
an Ethernet interface enables a radiation monitoring components introduced here have been designed such
system to be constructed according to the size of the that all characteristic functions for radiation measure-
facility. Figure 6 shows an example configuration of a ment are installed in the radiation detector, and the
radiation monitoring system. signal processing results are output as digital data. As
This system is capable of connecting a maximum a result, there are almost no restrictions on the system
of 30 radiation monitor channels in a single Ether- configuration, and future advances in data processing
net loop. Multiple Ethernet loops can be combined to technology will be easy to incorporate.
construct a large-scale system. The signal from each Fuji Electric intends to continue its developmental
radiation monitor is input to an Ethernet switching efforts, aiming for higher reliability, maintainability
hub (HUB), fed through a media converter (MC), and and productivity.
transmitted via an optical Ethernet to the radiation

Nuclear Facility Radiation Monitoring System 117

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