Control Room Radiation Monitoring Panels

Radiation Monitoring Equipment Panels

In all nuclear power plants, sampling equipment is mounted in the various ventilation, gas, and liquid systems to monitor for the presence of radioactive materials.

Photo by J.A. Gonyeau

These are called Process Radiation Monitors because they monitor processes.

The output from these samplers feed to indicating panels in the control room. If an alarm condition occurs, signals are fed to a central alarm on the main panel so that the operator is then directed to investigate the cause.

In some cases, an alarm condition may cause valving or ventilation system lineup changes. As an example, discharge from a normal ventilation system may be stopped and the ventilation discharge may be routed through a special set of filters that include high efficiency absolute filters and charcoal filters.

In other cases, an unexpected level of radioactivity in liquid being released will automatically shut the discharge valve. 10CFR20 contains the requirements for radioactivity levels allowed in liquid and geaseous releases from nuclear power plants.

Area Radiation Monitors usually are scintillation or Geiger-Mueller detectors and mounted in various areas where radiation levels above background levels might be expected to occur.