Portable Radiation Measuring Device on County’s Purchase List

Riverside County supervisors are expected today to approve spending $52,000 on a radiation monitoring system that health officials say would enable them to quickly measure levels of radioactivity and determine whether areas are safe to inhabit.

The county Department of Environmental Health is seeking to purchase a
Guardian Predator Portable Radiation Detection System from Oakridge, Tenn.-
based Nucsafe Inc.

According to documents posted on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda, the
system would allow for testing air quality in order to reduce “risk of
exposure to hazardous materials.”

“This equipment will assist staff in testing and relaying information
to responders and help in determining any required action,” the Department of
Environmental Health said. “This system will provide an indirect benefit by
allowing the department to enable the public to return to an evacuated area
more quickly.”

County officials said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security utilizes
the same Nucsafe gear. The equipment consists of backpack-mounted radiation detectors that can identify gamma-ray and neutron sources of radioactivity at both lethal and minimal levels, according to the Nucsafe website.

The Department of Environmental Health selected the company’s products
without seeking competitive bids, saying there was nothing else comparable on
the market.

The $52,638 expenditure would be covered with grant funding, officials
said.