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ICENSInternational Centre ForEnvironmental & Nuclear Sciences -
Our InvolvementsResearch & Projects
Environmental
Food Security
Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security
Geochemical -
International Centre For Environmental & Nuclear Sciences (ICENS)
Who We Are?
ICENS is a complex of multi-disciplinary research laboratories founded in 1984 on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica and covers a diverse range of the geochemical, environmental and nuclear sciences. In 1984 it brought into operation a small Slowpoke-II research reactor provided by the European Economic Community (now the European Union). Located in a pleasant green area of 2.64 km2 (653 acres) situated at the foot of the spectacular Blue Mountains about 20 km from the Norman Manley International Airport, ICENS occupies an attractive, modern and purpose-built air-conditioned building of 950 sq. m. area.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Cadmium Isotopic Composition
Cadmium Isotopic Composition Indicates Multiple Geological Sources In Cadmium Anomaly In Jamaican Soils.
Determination Of CO2 Emissions
Determination Of CO2 Emissions From Agricultural Soils Under Different Land Management Practices Using A Chamber-Based Approach
The Dietary Intake Of Minerals And Trace Elements
Jamaican soils are known to be enriched in many elements including arsenic, cadmium and uranium.
Soils of Jamaica
Jamaican soils are known to be enriched in many elements including arsenic, cadmium and uranium. Suitable reference materials such as NIST 698 Bauxite (Jamaican) do not include reference or information values for measurands of interest such as As, Cd or U.
Diverse Research Facilities
SLOWPOKE-2 Research Reactor (JM-1)
SLOWPOKE-2 Research Reactor (JM-1)
The Jamaican SLOWPOKE-2 research reactor (JM-1) is a pool type reactor, designed by the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL). It is fuelled by approximately 6 kg of uranium enriched to 19.86% 235U and has a nominal thermal power rating of 20 kW when operating at full power. JM-1 was commissioned in 1984 and is located at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS). The reactor is owned and operated by the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and is primarily used for neutron activation analysis of trace elements in studies related to health, the environment and agriculture as well as in education and training. The reactor staff consists of 7 persons including the Reactor Manager, the head of the Head of the Nuclear Analytical Laboratory, The Radiation Safety and Security Officer, the Quality Manager and three other reactor operators.
Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security
Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security
The Department of Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security, formally the TLD department, was conceived out of the need to monitor ICENS personnel following the commissioning of SLOWPOKE-2 Research Reactor in 1984. The department has expanded and now offers radiation safety services commercially. These include: personnel dosimetry (TLD), surveys and swipe testing and education and training. ICENS currently has over One hundred and Thirty TLD customers from the islands of Anguilla, Barbados, Turks and Caicos and Jamaica. Our customers operate in a range of industries: X-ray and other medical imaging applications, industrial radiography, cancer diagnosis and treatment, distilleries and bottling, and university departments. Surveys and swipe/leak tests are conducted for the commissioning and/or verification of equipment as well as to identify contaminated items and leaking sources. The majority of the survey work done to date has been at the ports of entry on x-ray scanners as well as shipment containers. ICENS is will be expanding its surveying capabilities in the near future. The department has recently began to offer training on radiation protection and safety through short sensitization sessions for its TLD customers. More intense modules are available upon request.
Radiation Safety
The Department of Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security, formally the TLD department, was conceived out of the need to monitor ICENS personnel following the commissioning of SLOWPOKE-2 Research Reactor in 1984.
The department has expanded and now offers radiation safety services commercially. These include: personnel dosimetry (TLD), surveys and swipe testing and education and training.
ICENS currently has over One hundred and Thirty TLD customers from the islands of Anguilla, Barbados, Turks and Caicos and Jamaica. Our customers operate in a range of industries: X-ray and other medical imaging applications, industrial radiography, cancer diagnosis and treatment, distilleries and bottling, and university departments.
Nuclear Security
The Department of Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security, formally the TLD department, was conceived out of the need to monitor ICENS personnel following the commissioning of SLOWPOKE-2 Research Reactor in 1984.
The department has expanded and now offers radiation safety services commercially. These include: personnel dosimetry (TLD), surveys and swipe testing and education and training.
ICENS currently has over One hundred and Thirty TLD customers from the islands of Anguilla, Barbados, Turks and Caicos and Jamaica. Our customers operate in a range of industries: X-ray and other medical imaging applications, industrial radiography, cancer diagnosis and treatment, distilleries and bottling, and university departments.
Atomic Spectroscopy And Wet Chemistry Lab
Atomic Spectroscopy And Wet Chemistry Lab
The Atomic Spectroscopy and Wet Chemistry Laboratory primary analyses metals in solutions, digests, extracts and waters. The laboratory operates a PerkinElmer Optima 7000 DV Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) and a Thermo Scientific iCE 3000 Series Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) with Flame and Graphite Furnace capabilities. The laboratory also performs standard wet chemistry methods and other analyses including titrations, pH measurements and Loss On Ignition (LOI).
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is the flagship analytical method of ICENS. It is probably the most powerful of elemental analytical techniques, and is an important reference method against which other techniques are frequently compared. Analyses are usually done without chemical pre-treatment of the sample, thus avoiding problems related to incomplete dissolution, for example of soils and rocks; loss of volatile; potential combination; and additional expense. Moreover, since neutrons interact directly with the atomic nuclei, the state of chemical combination is not relevant. Theoretically, some 70% of the 88 naturally occurring elements can be determined by NAA.
SLOWPOKE has five available irradiation sites. The neutron flux around the core is radially homogeneous, with less than a 1% difference between the four inner sites. A pneumatic system is used for sample transfer to and from the reactor core. Irradiation times range from seconds to hours depending on the half-lives of the radionuclide involved.
An in-pool irradiation system has been developed for samples up to about 20g. The increased sample size compensates for the 90% reduction in neutron flux and can be advantageous, when as with the analysis of gold, there may be a strong nugget effect and as a result larger samples are desired. ICENS presently routinely measures the concentrations of about 54 elements at parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb) limits of detection, depending on the element and sample matrix. The limits could be reduced even further in post-irradiation separation techniques were utilized, which currently are not carried out.