Radioactive sources can be used within small, portable industrial detectors. These devices contain the sources, detectors, and the electronic equipment required for measurement. The source itself is physically small, typically a few centimeters in length and diameter, and can be positioned either completely inside the device or at the end of a supporting rod or handle.
Fixed industrial devices come in various shapes and sizes and are generally designed to operate for many years with little or no maintenance. Industrial gauges are used for process control — for measuring flow, volume, density, or material presence — and can be installed in areas unsuitable for continuous human presence (for example, inside a blast furnace). Depending on the specific application, industrial gauges may contain varying amounts of radioactive material, from very small quantities up to 1 TBq.
These devices are generally small in physical size but are usually heavy due to the shielding they contain.
The radioactive sources themselves are very small — less than 1 cm in diameter and only a few centimeters long — and are connected to specially designed cables to ensure proper operation. The use of radioactive sources in industrial radiography equipment is very common; they can be employed either as small portable devices or as larger industrial machines.
Well logging devices are generally used for the exploration of areas in the search for minerals such as coal, oil, and natural gas. The sources are usually contained within long (typically 1–2 m) but narrow devices (less than 10 cm in diameter)<, which also house detectors and electronic components.
The actual size of the sources inside the devices is small, while the equipment itself is large and heavy due to the robustness required for the environments in which it is used.
