This International Standard applies to hand-held instruments used for the detection and
identification of radionuclides, the detection of neutron radiation and the indication of the
ambient dose equivalent rate from photon radiation. This standard does not apply to the
performance of radiation protection instrumentation which is covered in IEC 60846.

It is recognized that front line law-enforcement officers, who are generally not radiation
experts, may use instruments covered by this standard. This requires user-friendly instrument
design and operation with a high degree of inherent safety.

This standard specifies requirements for hand-held photon spectrometers, in particular for the
detectors, the electronic multi-channel analyzers, the identification software, the radionuclide
libraries, and the instrument display. It further specifies general characteristics, general test
procedures, radiation characteristics, as well as electrical, mechanical, safety, and
environmental characteristics.

This standard provides guidelines for selecting suitable radionuclide libraries covering
radioactive materials that have been most frequently detected at border crossings.

This standard refers to instrumentation which may be used for the purposes described in
ISO 22188.

This standard may be used for instruments that do not have neutron response capabilities, in
which case, neutron response requirements do not apply.

This standard does not cover laboratory type, high-resolution photon spectrometers.