On the ball

A UK company has developed a radiation-mapping device that allows repairs to be carried out in small contaminated areas of nuclear power plants. It was designed for use in difficult-to-access areas, such as research glove boxes or active cells (areas with high levels of contamination).

The RadBall, designed by Dr Steven Stanley, senior research technologist at

is based on technology used for radiation therapy delivery. It is a spherical polymer plastic module the size of a tennis ball that sits inside a thin lead casing pierced with about 120 collimation holes.

'Customers would typically map a cell if they needed to make a repair in the cell or they were looking to decommission the area and wanted to take the kit down and decontaminate it — so they would need to know where the radiation problems are,' said Nexia team leader Richard Taylor.

When the RadBall is placed in a radioactive environment, the radiation penetrates the holes in the device and more opaque, dark green lines form in the solid polymer, which is a transparent green colour before exposure.