The everyday word for a hot particle, named for its size and for how it hitches a ride on clothing, hair and gloves. Fleas are usually activated corrosion products or fuel fragments too small to see, found by frisking or by a portal monitor alarm. Techs pick them up with tape, count them to estimate activity and calculate the skin dose they delivered while in contact.
Got a flea on his sleeve at the PCM, tape it off and get it on the counter.
Also heard as
- hot particle
Related terms
Hot particle
A tiny, highly radioactive fragment that can deliver a large localised skin dose if it lands on someone.
Frisking
Slowly scanning a person or object with a contamination probe to find radioactive material before it leaves an area.
PCM
Personnel contamination monitor: a walk-in booth that scans the whole body for contamination at exits.
PCE
Personnel contamination event: contamination found on a worker's skin or personal clothing above a set threshold.