SPECIAL REPORT: CBRN SOLUTIONS TESTING FOR MILITARY OPERATIONS
FIGURE 4: ANALYTICAL LABORATORY FOR THE EVALUATION OF EXPERIMENTS
made of PVC, PMMA and various equipment specimens made of plastic or metal were contaminated. The contamination method was as required by AEP-58. The initial contamination with chemical agents was 5 g/m2. In the case of biological agents, the density of contamination was 1E7 cfu/cm2, and 20 MBq/m2 for radiological contamination, respectively. The radionuclide La140 was used in two different formulations. Reduction of contamination to acceptable threshold levels was required in all the cases.
FIGURE 5: AN EXAMPLE OF CONTAMINATED SAMPLES
The following parameters were measured, recorded and verified: • Initial contamination; •R esidual contamination of the tested surfaces as well as the residual amount of contaminating agent in the effluents; •V apour hazard and contact hazard in case of chemical agents; •R eduction of the surface activity, and exposure of operators within radiological decontamination; • Extraction efficiency; •A mbient temperature, relative humidity, and reproducibility of the tests. The experiments generated valuable data for the evaluation of decontamination systems effectiveness as well as for the assessment of their
impact on the equipment. In the majority of cases, the decontamination efficiency was very good, achieving residual levels below the measurement threshold for chemical, or more than log 6 reductions for biological agents. In other cases, the decontamination was less optimal. This largely depended on the combination of surface material type and performed treatments. For some kinds of materials, an extra step or time was required to achieve an acceptable level of decontamination. The results from a number of tests with various decontamination systems and decontaminants also demonstrated and proved the suitability of the Facility for bulk systems testing as close as possible to real-world conditions and for validation of emerging protective measures, technologies and state-of-the-art systems.
Conclusions With evolving threats, hazards and security challenges, increasingly sophisticated technologies are needed for the protection of people, infrastructures and the environment. Verification whether the designed military or security-related systems meet the requirements for performance, reliability, accuracy and other indicators in CBRN environment, is impossible in classical laboratories or in the open air in the majority of cases due to their size and/or environmental considerations. Therefore, validation of complex systems in compliance with requirements became an integral part of applied security research. The Institute, within its research tasks, expects to monitor and assess how the existing and emerging technologies respond to the CBRN environment. Testing by the Facility may also be offered to the institutions, manufacturers, experts, consultants, and/or end users within EU and EDA Projects or on the commercial basis.
Contacts National Institute for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection (SUJCHBO), Kamenna 71, 262 31 Milin, Czech Republic; Tel: +420602249905; Fax: +420318626055; Email: sujchbo@sujchbo.cz; www.sujchbo.cz
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