How low can you go?

Scientists worldwide are measuring ever smaller amounts of radiation

News Brief

October 19, 2017

• Susan Bauer, PNNL, (509) 372-6083

RICHLAND, Wash. - Very low levels of radiation can tell scientists a lot about our world. New approaches and techniques for measuring very low or trace levels of radiation have recently been featured in a special issue of the Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes which published the proceedings of the seven^th International Conference on Radionuclide Metrology. The conference was held for the 1st time in the U.S. and focused on low-level radiation measurement techniques from around the world. The ability to measure trace levels of radiation activity is challenging but crucial for:

• Water Security - understanding environmental processes via radioisotope transport in oceans and groundwater resources
• Food Security - meeting requirements for radioactivity in everything from drinking water, to food products, to building materials
• Nuclear Security - monitoring nuclear treaties with sensitive measurements of radioactivity released by nuclear tests
• Energy Security - supporting a new generation of fundamental physics experiments with measurements of ultra-pure materials important to dark matter detection

The D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab hosted the U.S. conference and served as guest editors for the special issue. PNNL was recently extended an invitation to join the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology which sponsored the Low-Level Radiation Measurement Techniques conference where 123 scientists from over 20 countries presented a total of 121 papers.

Tags: National Security, Radiation Detection

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed and operated by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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