The future of radiological instrumentation

Future trends in the development of radiation protection instrumentation can be expected to be closely related to current trends in political and social activity that drive legislation, rule-making, and standard practice, with assistance provided by trends in material and electronic technology. Wide-range performance will be emphasized to arm the daily worker with instruments that routinely log background rates and, at the same time, are prepared to measure accident rates. Separate and simultaneous accumulation of data from several sensors to ensure complete coverage of the radiation types will be common. Mathematical manipulation of data will provide for summary data logging and, in some cases, solutions to integral equations to provide corrections to experimental data. Instruments will become more reliable by way of self-checking and correction. Miniaturization and large-scale integration of measuring instruments will provide some instrumentation for the people at large. To be effective, the instruments will necessarily cover a wide range and be very reliable. The net result of these several trends will provide for a widespread understanding of radiation protection and an implementation of "as low as reasonably achievable" among large segments of the population.