Environmental monitoring technology

As a consequence of the new geopolitical environment, missions of military forces have changed. Soldiers are now primarily involved in peacekeeping or humanitarian missions. Even the radiological threat has changed. Now there is greater concern about exposure to low-level radiation (LLR) as opposed to that from thermonuclear warfare. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defines LLR as radiation deriving from all but nuclear weapon sources, regardless of the intensity of the radiation. LLR raises new questions about physical dosimetry requirements of military forces in managing radiological situations. After presenting a list of potential radiological threats, this paper discusses questions raised by LLR, defines problems in operational terms, and suggests possible solutions. Finally, the new French military dosimeter is presented as the first attempt to create a military dosimeter useful for both peacetime and wartime.