Emerging applications of nuclear and isotopic techniques in the environmental sciences

Abstract

Nuclear techniques have many applications in environmental science, and new possibilities are provided by the instruments currently being developed and commissioned throughout the world. For example, the OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights in Australia has 13 operational and planned neutron beam instruments. Several of these techniques have already been applied in environmental science, including small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and neutron radiography/tomography. The reactor also hosts advanced capabilities for the more traditional nuclear analytical technique of neutron activation analysis (NAA). This technique is being applied in biomonitoring and bioaccumulation research, with studies of a range of organisms including moss, crops, trees, bivalves, bird-feathers, human hair and marine species. Other related techniques available to environmental scientists include accelerator-based and synchrotron techniques, with 10 beam-lines currently available at the Australian synchrotron.