Skip to main navigation Skip to main content
The University of Southampton
Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton

GAU-Radioanalytical Laboratories (GAU)

GAU-Radioanalytical Laboratories (GAU) is a long-established and experienced commercial group providing radioanalytical services, consultancy and research support for government, industrial (nuclear and environmental) and academic sectors. Our expertise in radiometric analysis, particularly for difficult-to-measure (DTM) radionuclides; radioanalytical project management; R&D and training is widely recognised. Our capability is underpinned by highly skilled staff, state-of-the-art facilities and high impact research covering the nuclear, chemical and geochemical sectors. Radioanalytical services include alpha and gamma spectrometry, liquid scintillation analysis, 3 H, 14 C, 36 Cl and 129 I extraction, and mass spectrometry all of which are available to in-house researchers and external clients.

GAU is a UKAS accredited laboratory (BS EN ISO/IEC 17025).

GAU is also a supporting laboratory for the National Nuclear Users Facility in next generation accelerated characterisation technologies (NNUF-EXACT).

Our services:

Sectors and industries we work with:

Our research:

Our research predominantly originates from commercial activities and partnerships with our clients in the nuclear decommissioning, environmental/workplace monitoring, and nuclear safeguarding sectors. This has included developing new ways of characterising and managing nuclear wastes, particularly for difficult-to-measure (DTM) radionuclides via fundamental research into radionuclide – waste association, novel extractant / separation schemes, novel analytical procedures and measurement techniques and development of reference materials in support of data quality improvement. Another example of high impact collaborative research involves examining global plutonium inputs to assess nuclear fallout as a potential marker for the stratigraphic base of the Anthropocene.

GAU's research is undertaken by its highly trained and experienced postdoctoral staff, associated PhD and masters students and can be categorised into four main focus areas: waste characterisation and analytical techniques, remediation technologies, nuclear forensics, and environmental studies.

Radionuclides originating from a nuclear reactor
Radionuclides originating from a nuclear reactor
Gamma detectors
Gamma detectors
Alpha Spectrometers
Alpha Spectrometers
Quantulus
A Quantulus Ultra Low Background Liquid Scintillation Counter

Contact us:
GAU Main Office
E : gau@noc.soton.ac.uk
T : +44 (0) 23 80 596587

Useful Downloads

Need the software? PDF Reader
Privacy Settings