Principal Investigator Michael Ames
Co-investigator Lin-wen Hu
Project Website http://web.mit.edu/nrl/www/research/neutron_activation.htm
The MIT-NRL has several facilities that are useful for trace elemental analysis and for the production and analysis of radioisotopes.Neutron Activation Analysis
The primary method for elemental analysis at the MIT-NRL is Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA). Elemental analysis by NAA first uses neutrons generated by the reactor to create radioactive isotopes from the stable isotopes in a sample material. These radioisotopes are then measured using gamma spectroscopy (a more detailed description of NAA is given below). MIT and outside researchers who wish to analyze materials by NAA should contact Michael Ames.
The two components of an NAA can also be applied separately to:
(1) Produce radionuclides in a variety of forms for use as tracers in physical, chemical, and biological fate and transport studies. Radiotracers can be useful for flexible lab-scale studies of uptake and transport in physical, chemical, and biological systems.(1) Detect, identify, and measure the presence of radioactivity in natural or manmade materials.