Conveners
Environmental Physics & Applications
- Pete Jones (iThemba LABS)
Environmental Physics & Applications
- Alison Bruce (University of Brighton)
Environmental Physics & Applications
- Tanya Hutton (University of Cape Town)
The AMS facility at iThemba LABS is the only one of its kind on the African continent. It operates with NRF support to achieve a threefold mandate: to provide a technology platform for users, to train future science leaders, and to do research. In meeting this mandate the AMS facility operates in a partnership with the user base in the provision of know-how to run analyses on science agendas...
Soil samples in the agricultural farmland surrounding selected quarry sites in Ondo and Ekiti states was assessed to measure the concentration of 238U, 232Th, 40K using NaI (TI) detector and estimating radiological parameters in order to determine the possible radiation effects to the farmers and member of the public consuming the farm products. Analysis of the result revealed that the average...
The PAUL project has made significant progress toward planning and designing an underground laboratory to be constructed during the upgrade of the Huguenot Road Tunnel near Paarl in the Western Cape, South Africa. Measurements of muon-flux suppression in the tunnel—critical to demonstrating reduced cosmic-ray backgrounds—will be presented in a separate contribution to this conference. Here, we...
Uranium deposits in Tanzania, particularly at Mkuju, Bahi, and Manyoni, have attracted increasing attention due to their economic potential and environmental implications. Over the past two decades, numerous studies have investigated activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides, including uranium-238, thorium-232, and potassium-40, as well as associated radiological hazards....
The Portable African Neutron-Gamma Laboratory for Innovative Nuclear Science (PANGoLINS) [1] project aims to investigate measurements of both gamma rays and neutrons which forms an important component part on site or in transit and the detection of both fissile material for the use in decarbonised energy sources or disposal thereof. A core component of the project is to miniaturize the weight...
This work investigates the development of a two-stage Compton camera for environmental radiation monitoring, with a focus on energy resolution, detection efficiency, fast timing, and optimal geometrical configuration. While significant advances have been made in radiation imaging technologies, challenges remain in achieving high sensitivity and accurate source localisation in complex...
The rate of poaching of rhinos in South Africa shows little sign of slowing. The numbers are down but there are less animals to be poached. South Africa is custodian of the majority of the world's black and white rhino populations. The conventional methods of anti poaching are proving barely adequate whilst at the same time risking the lives of antipoaching patrols. The Rhisotope Project...
