This area of research estimates the potential dose from long lived radioactive substances at mining sites, legacy sites and nuclear facilities.
These assessments provide insights into the mechanisms of contamination and assist in determining the effective remediation of contaminated sites.
Investigators detect and measure hot particles, microscopic pieces of radioactive material can become lodged in living matter and deliver a concentrated dose of radiation to a small area, and toxic co-contaminants in radioactively contaminated environments because of potential impact to plants, animals and humans. The potential effects of low doses of radioactivity in contaminated sites are also evaluated.
This complex work requires a multi-disciplinary approach using radioecology, radiochemistry, analytical chemistry and geochemistry isotopic as well as nuclear and synchrotron techniques.techniques .
Various types of modelling are used in the interpretation of data.
Investigations use cellular and genomic information as well as insights at the atomic scale which facilitate the interpretation of doses and impacts to individual species and entire ecosystems.
