GRaDER Program Equipment Categories

The Graduated Rad/Nuc Detector Evaluation and Reporting (GRaDER^SM) Program is a conformity assessment program conducted on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). The program evaluates the independent results of commercial off-the-shelf Rad/Nuc detection and identification technologies tested against published standards.

The GRaDER program currently includes the following Department-adopted American National Standards Institute (ANSI) / Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) N42 national standards within its scope of evaluation:

• Category 1 - Alarming Personal Radiation Detectors (PRDs). ANSI/IEEE N42.32-2006 American National Standard Performance Criteria for Alarming Personal Radiation Detectors for Homeland Security.
• Category 2 - Survey meters. ANSI/IEEE N42.33-2006 American National Standard for Portable Radiation Detection Instrumentation for Homeland Security.
• Category 3 - Radionuclide identifiers (RIDs). ANSI/IEEE N42.34 2006 American National Standard Performance Criteria for Hand-Held Instruments for the Detection and Identification of Radionuclides.
• Category 4 - Radiation detection portal monitors. ANSI/IEEE N42.35 2006 American National Standard for Evaluation and Performance of Radiation Detection Portal Monitors for Use in Homeland Security.
• Category 5 - Spectroscopic portal monitors. ANSI/IEEE N42.38 2006 American National Standard Performance Criteria for Spectroscopy - Based Portal Monitors Used for Homeland Security.
• Category 6 - Mobile and Transportable Systems. ANSI/IEEE N42.43-2006 American National Standard Performance Criteria for Mobile and Transportable Radiation Monitors Used for Homeland Security.
• Category 7 - Spectroscopic Personal Radiation Detectors (SPRDs). ANSI/IEEE N42.48-2008 American National Standard Performance Requirements for Spectroscopic Personal Radiation Detectors (SPRDs) for Homeland Security.

The content of the applicable ANSI/IEEE N42 consensus standards is available at:

• Responder Knowledge Base
• IEEE Standards Association
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Department of Homeland Security National Standards

DNDO recognizes that the standards currently included in the scope of the program will periodically be reviewed, revised, and republished. DNDO intends to incorporate these revised standards in the scope of the conformity assessment program in a time-phased manner that will allow industry to adjust to the new requirements and the network of government and commercial laboratories to expand scopes of accreditation to encompass the new standards.

The GRaDER Program Web site includes a listing of DNDO accepted laboratories that provide testing services for these categories of equipment.

Read about the DNDO vision for the GRaDER Program.