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The main goal of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the use and determination of 129I by means of the accelerator mass spectrometry. Although AMS is currently the most sensitive method for the determination of 129I, the preparation of target samples plays a key role in this method. The most commonly used methods are those in which iodine is lost due to elevated temperatures. Therefore, there is still room for effort to find the most suitable methods of preparation of iodine samples for measurement by the AMS method.

Due to its specific properties, in particular its almost exclusively anthropogenic origin and highly conservative chemical behaviour in the environment, the uranium isotope 236U is an exceptionally suitable tracer of both human nuclear activities and natural processes. As an analytical tool, it is particularly useful in the fields of nuclear safety with an overlap into forensic analysis and oceanography, where it is mainly used for deep-sea current mapping. This paper provides a brief summary of 236U properties, its analytical applications and determination by accelerator mass spectrometry, including sample preparation procedure and influence of the resulting chemical matrix on the final instrumental determination.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a very sensitive method for the determination of ultra-trace concentrations of long-lived radionuclides of actinides, such as uranium, plutonium, neptunium, or americium, mostly in environmental samples. This article focuses mainly on the determination of plutonium isotopes occurring in nature due to human nuclear activity, mainly 239Pu and 240Pu. The determination of the 239/240Pu ratio enables one to identify the origin of plutonium emission in the environment, namely, whether it originates from global fallout or releases from nuclear facilities. Actinides determination plays also an important role in environmental studies, where the measurement of individual radionuclides, such as 236U, 237Np, 239Pu, 240Pu and 241Am, can monitor the environmental processes, especially migration, sedimentation or deep ocean currents. The overall sample preparation procedure for AMS includes evaporation and pre-concentration of the sample to reduce its volume or sample decomposition. After that, to eliminate isobaric interferences, it is necessary to separate the actinides from other elements and, in most cases, also from each other. This paper describes procedures of the separation of actinides from various environmental samples, as well as the preparation of the oxide and fluoride target materials which is crucial for the measurement in terms of the isobaric interferences suppression, material quantity and the detection sensitivity.

Continuous and future-oriented education and training as well as knowledge management for young talents are required for the safe and reliable operation of nuclear reactors and nuclear facilities in Europe. A dedicated line of collaborative projects addresses the specific needs, such as lack of personnel (project ENEN+: “attract, retain and develop new nuclear talents beyond academic curricula”). State-of-the-art approaches and in-depth knowledge are provided when it comes to reactor physics (project GRE@T-PIONEeR: “graduate education alliance for teaching the physics and safety of nuclear reactors”) or nuclear radiochemistry (project A-CINCH: “augmented cooperation in education and training in nuclear and radiochemistry”). A highly skilled nuclear engineer must undergo experimental work to better observe theoretical principles at work. Following the ENEEP (European nuclear experimental educational platform) initiative, a network of research reactors and special laboratories is made available for performing such activities. Another issue found is that the results of Euratom-funded research activities are spread across multiple platforms and websites making it difficult to find relevant information within a reasonable timeframe. Such a situation requires the application of knowledge management actions. The PIKNUS project aims to define a concept of a knowledge management method and tool to improve the sharing and availability of Euratom research results. All projects successfully demonstrate that European collaboration could address certain needs to attract, develop and retain young talents in future-oriented nuclear fields.

RoboLab enables students to perform real radiochemistry experiments without being physically present in a laboratory. Remotely controlled experiments are accessed through a web interface to a physical laboratory. The laboratory equipment is interfaced to a computer that both controls the equipment and provides feedback to the web user. A generic software template, using a cloud service, was developed to facilitate easy communication between the web browser and the control system. The sixth and most recent RoboLab, aiming at the production and measurement of 234mPa (T1/2 = 1.16 min), has been successfully developed and implemented using this template.