Contents



Preface

irradiation and the fission of uranium atoms.

and applied this technique.

tative analyses.

Since the last century, physicists have known that most of the mass of an atom was located in the nucleus at its center and that this central core contained protons. Until 1932, the atom was believed to be composed of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. Atomic theory from James Chadwick's discovery of the neutron was cen‐ tral to the extraordinary developments in atomic physics that occurred in the first half of the twentieth century. The neutron was exploited to create new radioactive elements by neutron

Hevesy and H. Levis were the first to report on a new method of activation analysis. Today, the concept of neutron activation analysis (NAA) has developed into a research reactor char‐ acterized with high neutron fluxes and gamma ray spectrometers with high resolving power HP(Ge) and NaI(Tl) detectors coupled to full-featured multichannel analyzer-based ad‐ vanced digital signal processing techniques. The complete spectroscopy workstation offers the highest quality acquisition and analysis. The use of NAA by researchers has increased steadily, and as a result, this technique remains one of the most common activities in 240 existing nuclear research reactors worldwide. In October 2017, the IAEA launched the first e-learning course dedicated to a research reactor-based technique and made it available to

This book highlights the advanced technologies and applications of NAA. It discusses the latest developments influencing the performance and utility of different NAA techniques across wide areas of applications: nuclear technology, industry, medicine, etc. with accurate analytical results. The overall goal of the book is to promote innovation and development of NAA techniques, technologies, and nuclear culture by presenting high-quality chapters with numerous results at both national and international levels. Since the k0-NAA method was launched by A. Simonits and F. De Corte, many laboratories worldwide have implemented

The book is intended to provide guidance in practical aspects of operating and applying lab‐ oratory NAA and reviews of the recent applications and associated technologies. It provides further insight into the method of analyzing samples using INAA, k0-NAA, and LS-NAA, which are sensitive analytical techniques useful for performing both qualitative and quanti‐

It is hoped that the book will serve as a source for graduate and postgraduate students in nuclear sciences and applications and nuclear analytical techniques, as well as teachers and researchers who have an overlapping interest in recent and projected needs of research and development. The neutron activation system was designed for ITER to evaluate integrated fusion power and develop an integrated approach to routine automation of NAA, and has

Member States through the IAEA Open Learning Management System.
