Assessment of devices used by the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic in case of radiation emergency.

This Thesis deals with the option of employing the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic (ACR) when a radiation emergency is imminent. Primarily, it focuses on evaluation of selected devices designed for radiation reconnaissance; summarising of radiation protection related legislation; and study of approved procedures. At its beginning, this Thesis tracks the origin of early detection systems at the territory of the then Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and their gradual evolution into the the existing form. From the radiation emergency point of view, this nationwide system represents a priceless help for monitoring of radioactive contamination dispersion and for warning. The following part sums up basic information on what is an ionizing radiation, how it comes into being and which basic quantities describe it. This part also contains basic type distinction, description of consequences for human organism and the most significant interactions of sources of ionizing radiation that could be misused with the most probability. This specific topic is introduced here because of the subsequent part of this Thesis being named Radiological Dispersion Device, or the dirty bomb. The significant part of this Thesis is the summary and classification of related legislation. The first documents referred to are two international standards. Publication 103 the 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection is dealing, inter alia, with dosing limits determining dose levels in planned exposure situations and reference levels used for emergency exposure situations and existing exposure situations. Publication 96 Protecting People against Radiation Exposure in the Event of a Radiological Attack is more substantial for this Thesis since it partly copes with the protection of front-line units including Integrated Rescue System (IRS) components and it specifies maximum exposure time for intervening personnel. Based on the IRS Catalogue of Typical Activities (STC 01/IZS), Materialised and Verified Use of a Radiological Weapon, the ACR would be one of the intervening components in such an attack. This Thesis analyses in detail individual ACR procedures starting with activities before employment, through threat prevention, event reaction to post-event activities like decontamination followed by monitoring of personnel contamination and their health condition. The practical part deals mainly with one of the Thesis´s goals which was evaluation of selected dosimetric devices used by the military for radiation reconnaissance. For this purpose, the quantitative research processing their main parameters was applied. The analysis within a selected sample was used for comparing and the sumary index IVi then showed the status of device applicability for contemporary use in radiation emergency. The pre-defined goals of this Thesis have been met implementing the above methods. The comparison of individual devices and their evaluation in respect to their applicability in joint radiation emergency operation with other IRS components has been carried out via discussion. It has been found out that some of the devices are obsolete and do not comply with the requirements for this job. This fact reflects the reality that these devices were designed in the period of a potential nuclear war. This corresponds with their robust structure and high level of sensitivity which is not desirable for a radiation emergency. The most severe problem, however, seems to be the fact that some devices measure quantities in old, no more used, units which could cause misinterpretation. On the other hand, other devices are modern, sensitive at low levels of dose input and offer real-time information on a well organised LCD display. To answer the question of ACR´s readiness to intervene in a radiation emergency one has to say that the ACR is ready to meet its rescue and consequence management tasks at a satisfactory level