FIELD: radiation. SUBSTANCE: method for searching and detecting sources of ionizing radiation using stationary or moving scintillation spectrometric detectors over the surveyed area is proposed, which consists in the fact that the entire measurement time interval is divided into sections of exposure time t_exp, the duration of each of which is the same and is preferably (8-15)⋅t_e, then, from the measurement results for each of the energy windows, the values of the average background count rate b, the amplitude of the expected signal a_m and the position of the signal on the time scale tm are determined, after which the value of the parameter η is calculated by the formula , where t_e is a predetermined signal duration, then η is compared with the threshold q_o, determined by a given false alarm probability, and the decision to detect the desired radiation source is made if η > q_o, for any of the established energy windows simultaneously. EFFECT: reducing the time of monitoring the object, simplifying the procedure for preparing for measurements, achieving a reduction in the thresholds for detecting radionuclides. 1 cl, 1 dwg, 1 tbl.