Radionuclides are used in many fields of science and technology. Due to their radioactivity, they can be detected easily at extremely low concentrations, some nuclides can be detected even atom by atom.

This unique property makes them a very powerful tool in chemistry, biology, physics and process engineering: Carrier free radionuclides are used in the investigation of chemical equilibria at extremely low concentrations, radiolabeled compounds are used widely in reaction kinetics investigations and in structure determination experiments. They are indispensable both in chemistry and biology and can provide very useful insights in technological processes.

Furthermore, some important chemical elements exist only in form of radioactive nuclides. The chemical investigation of these elements is part of the broader field of radiochemistry. In particular, all actinide nuclides are radioactive. The unique chemical properties of the actinides is aim of fundamental science for decades. Additionally, one of the global challenges of our time, the construction of safe depositories for the high-level radioactive waste from nuclear fission power plants, requires a very thorough understanding of the environmental chemistry of these elements. This topic has a long tradition in the Dresden area (see our Scientific Topics).

The Central Radionuclide Laboratory of the TU Dresden is a modern laboratory. It provides the opportunity for working with many radionuclides, amongst them the actinide elements, in open form. It has the neccesary legal license and holds the whole standard equipment for the measurement of radionuclides (see our Lab Equipment).

The Central Radionuclide Laboratory is open for all the scientific personell of TU Dresden and their co-operation partners which want or need to work with open radionuclides.