Since the facilities are licensed by the NRC to receive and handle a wide range of radioactive materials, many testing options are available that would be prohibited at normal chemical testing laboratories. Some of the tests are industry standards, while others are specially designed to improve the sensitivity of the results.
- Tests using radioactive iodine compounds are typically performed according to the methods outlined in ASTM D3803, which NUCON personnel helped to develop.
- The adsorption rate constants for the holdup of radioactive krypton and xenon by activated carbon are determined by using radioisotopes.
- Radioactive isotopes of mercury are used to test adsorbent materials in order to detect effluent concentrations below the capability of normal instrumentation.
- Removal of PCB's from an acid solution requires detection at very low levels. An isotope of carbon is used for this purpose.
- Determine carbon capacity and kinetics for gold recovery using radioactive gold as the tracer.
- Using radioactive tracers for the evaluation of specially developed adsorbent for cleanup of primary coolant in nuclear power plants.
