Departments of the Institute

The Institute of Isotopes has five scientific departments:

Radionuclide Applications

Research areas:
  • Identification of various oxidation and coordination states in iron or tin containing catalysts by in situ Mössbauer spectroscopy.
  • Study of radioisotope migration typical of high-level nuclear waste in geological samples (borecores).

Nuclear Research

Research Areas:
  • Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) and its applications
  • Nuclear spectroscopy with neutron-induced reactions
  • Nuclear data measurements and evaluation
  • Gamma-ray spectrometry and metrology
  • In-beam Mössbauer spectroscopy

Radiation Chemistry

Research Areas:
  • Radiation and photochemistry of hydrocarbons
  • Degradation of environmental pollutants e.g. chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons, reactive textile dyes.
  • Polymer radiation chemistry and mechanism of radiation induced polymerization.
  • Radiaton methods for synthesis of polymers for biomedical applications.

Radiation Safety

The main research fields and expert services are:
  • Nuclear section
    • Nuclear safeguards
    • Combatting illicit trafficking of nuclear materials
  • Dosimetry section
    • Chemical dosimetry
    • Solid state dosimetry; environmental, accidental, reactor and personal dosimetry
    • Radiation processing dosimetry
    • Dosimetry control at industrial high-activity gamma and at high-energy electron irradiation facilities
    • Radiation protection services
  • Radioactive Material Registry Section
    • Center registry of radioactive materials in Hungary with a dedicated computer system.
    • Software development for the central registry.
  • ICP-MS Mass Spectrometry Laboratory
    • Analysis of nuclear material of unknown origin (illicit trafficking). Determination of isotopics of uranium and other actinides, analysis of trace elements
    • Assessment of nuclear material collected on filters and swipes, or contained in other safeguards related samples
    • Analysis of long-lived radionuclides in environmental samples
    • Study of the laser ablation technique in the above and other fields

Surface Chemistry and Catalysis

Research Areas:
  • Studies on surface of highly dispersed metal particles: model catalysis
  • Activation of C1 molecules: structure and reactivity relationship of promoted mono- and bimetallic catalysts
  • Selective hydrogenation, asymmetric heterogen catalytic hydrogenation
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Wet catalytic oxidation, waste water management
  • Study of supported bimetallic catalysts in the conversions of hydrocarbons.
  • The structure, catalytic effect (influence on the activity and selectivity pattern) of carbonaceous deposits formed during refinery model reactions
  • Study the selective oxidation of CO (PROX) in presence of hydrogen for fuel cell application
  • Study of surface species formed on platinum upon chemisorption of low molecular weight hydrocarbons applying Auger spectroscopy (AES) and work-function measurement at UHV conditions.
There are two more departments for financial matters and for supporting the research departments.