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Radiochemistry
The Radiochemistry Unit at VLA was established in 1959 to concentrate on the analysis of milk samples. The samples were taken from animals grazing around the newly emerging nuclear facilities. We also investigated any contribution from the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons on these animals. Today the Radiochemistry Unit continues in providing high quality, efficient and cost-effective solutions to customers.
We offer a high degree of expertise accredited to ISO 17025 by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) in low-level radiochemical analysis. Our main customer is the Food Standards Agency (FSA), for who we analyze and determine radioactivity of food samples.
Our state of the art low-background instrumentation enables quantification of very low levels of a wide range of nuclides. We can measure:
- Environmental levels of alpha, beta and gamma emitting radionuclides
- Anthropogenic (man made) as well as cosmogenic (natural) radionuclides using a combination of non-destructive or analytical separation techniques.
Typical separation techniques employed include:
- Traditional radiochemistry including ion-exchange.
- Separation using ElChrom® Sr-spec resin.
- Radiochemical determinations of more than 45 radionuclides in a wide-range of biological, food and environmental samples.
Team members represent VLA at relevant meetings organised by professional bodies such as the Royal Society of Chemistry, ensuring skills and knowledge are always ready for new challenges.
To underpin the high quality of our results, regular intercomparison exercises are undertaken including those organised by the NPL and PROCORAD.