TERRIFFIC

A European project to improve the effectiveness of first responders in the initial stages of a CBRNe incident has just launched, reports Rob Munro.

The Terriffic project involves ten European organisations that will work together to shorten response time, lessen the health and safety risks for response teams, and develop automated processes and extended mobile detection capabilities to reduce the degree of human intervention required in CBRNe response operations.

Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, the project is designed to counter the growing risks from dirty bombs, speculative radiological weapons that combine radioactive material with conventional explosives and which are increasingly being used by terrorist groups against soft targets.

Terriffic is about developing tools for early and effective reconnaissance in CBRNe incidents and providing first responders with faster information and enabling better management of the control zone. The project’s research and innovation efforts will enhance the European response to radioactive and nuclear explosive events (RNE) through the development of a set of modular technology components in a comprehensive system. These include new detectors, algorithms, drones, robots, dispersions models, information management software, and decision support systems.

Although not its primary focus, the project will also provide detailed information on the applicability of developments within a chemical and biological context.

Performance goals include a significant decrease in the time it takes to start terrain interventions, facilitated by more accurate and close-to-real-time estimates of control and exclusion zones. Advanced mixed-reality technology will be used to provide first responders with continuously updated information during operations. Key performance indicators will measure progress towards these goals.

The project’s R&D partners will provide the latest technology innovations, and key components will be developed by SMEs already involved in military or first responder markets. First response practitioner involvement is key, and their operational expertise will be essential throughout the development process, including the assessment of components and the technology trials, to ensure that the project focuses on the right areas.

Project partners Arktis Radiation Detectors is the project coordinator and technology partner. The company will provide low-cost, modular silicon photomultiplier-based gamma and neutron detectors and will be involved in the integration of detection technologies into systems alongside developing an interface that will allow information from its detection system to be transmitted using CBRNe communications standards.

Nexter Robotics will adapt its unmanned ground vehicles so they can operate RN detectors mounted on a manipulator arm and provide autonomous exploration capabilities to enable autonomous search for contamination threats inside pre-defined areas.

Drones for mobile detectors will be provided by Aeraccess, and the company will focus on a customised interface with the newly designed payloads and connection to the Terriffic system, to enable precise, real-time information for first responders.

Bruhn Newtech will provide CBRNe products and product enhancements to the project, while management services firm Arttic will support the project management, communication, dissemination, and exploitation of the project’s activities. Expertise in operational needs assessment, testing, evaluation, and training will be provided by the International Security and Emergency Management Institute.

RNE experts TL & Associates will specify and consolidate the technical specifications to develop the necessary evaluation and training tools using virtual reality technologies. The company will also contribute to dissemination activities, presenting the evaluation results to the RNE community.

Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology will contribute to the mixed-reality software development, requirements capture, and user evaluation and testing, while the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission will develop an ultra-compact gamma camera for radioactive source localisation, and a beta contamination measurement system able to work in a high gamma background.

The project’s research and innovation efforts will enhance the European response to radioactive and nuclear explosive events through the 0development of a set of modular technology components in a comprehensivesystem.

École Centrale de Lyon will develop the algorithms and software used to predict the location of the source and then the location of the pollutant’s plume and the 3D characterisation of the contaminated area.

The Terrific project will also leverage results from previous successful FP7 projects, closely cooperating with Encircle on the CBRN cluster and market aspects, and with Enotice on training and technology testing and assessment. Special attention will be given to standardisation to optimise the integration with future and already applied solutions.

36 < INDUSTRIAL FIRE JOURNAL < third quarter 2018 Read our e-magazine at www.hemmingfire.com