Facilities

Nuclear Forensics and Radiochemistry Laboratory

The Nuclear Forensics and Radiochemistry Laboratory maintains a wide variety of instrumentation that is employed to develop a bench scale setup for the PUREX chemical process of neutron irradiated uranium fuel surrogates. This laboratory is used to educate students on the fundamentals of radiochemistry and nuclear forensics. The laboratory allows students to explore current advances in the field. To demonstrate the nuclear forensics capabilities and handling special nuclear materials, the lab includes a glove box and fume hood. The lab is equipped with radiation spectroscopy and detection instruments such as NaI, HPGe and PIPS detectors to support nuclear forensics studies. The laboratory is used for both education and research.

Features: glove box and fume hood for handling radioactive materials; NaI and HPGe detectors for gamma-radiation spectrometry; PIPS detectors for alpha radiation spectrometry; electrochemical setup for radioactive material sample preparation; centrifuges to separate organic and aqueous phases; vortex mixer to mix different chemical phases; heating mantle for chemical dissolution of uranium dioxide; and bench scale setup for PUREX chemical process.

Nuclear Security and Emergency Response Laboratory

Features: mechanically-cooled HPGes; radiation isotope identification devices; emergency response radiation detection equipment; neutron coincidence detection capability; vehicle-mountable scalable gamma detection array; comprehensive surveillance system apparatus (camera, IR, motion); and HPGe system for determining U and Pu sample enrichment.

Radiation Detection and Measurements Laboratory

The Radiation Detection and Measurements Laboratory maintains a wide variety of instrumentation that is employed to study radiation and radioactive decay. This laboratory is used to educate students on the fundamentals of radiation detection and allows them to explore current advances in the field. The lab also houses several pieces of instrumentation that allow students to explore and understand the science of gamma spectroscopy.

Features: NIM-bins to operate Geiger-Mueller tubes, gas-flow proportional counters, alpha-spectrometers, gamma detectors, and neutron detectors; digital electronic-based systems to study gamma spectroscopy, coincident radiation, neutron detection, and neutron multiplicity; HPGe workstations, hand-held radiation identifi cation systems, and He-3 and BF-3 tubes for neutron detection; mechanically and liquid nitrogen cooled HPGe detection systems; lead vaults for low background measurements; portable systems calibrated for In-Situ Counting Systems; high resolution LaBr scintillation detectors; portal monitors; and surveillance and monitoring systems.