AUTOMATIC FILM-BADGE READER

>A description is given of the method used to process several thousand film badges per week at the National Reactor Testing Station. It is a highly automated film-reading and data-recording system. The film reader consists of a densitometer head, a badge-number matrix, a film-density computer, two digital voltmeters (one for beta dose and one for gamma), a master control panel, and associated power supplies. Pertinent information, collected by the film reader, is fed to a modified Model 026 IBM card punch which produces a permanent punched record. The processing method is given chronologically from the time the badge is deposited by the exposed personnel at the end of the exposure period until it is redeposited by monitoring personnel for pickup by the workmen at the start of the new exposure period. Performance studies have shown that the reader is linear and has a reproducibility of about 97%. The cost for duplication of this system is estimated to be about 810,000. (B.O.G.)