The Unique SRTC Underground Counting Facility - Past, Present, Future

The Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) Underground Counting Facility (UCF) is capable of detecting extremely small amounts of radioactivity in materials, thereby providing very appealing applications in forensic studies, environmental analyses, nuclear nonproliferation, and various scientific research. Over the past 14 yr {gt}8,000 samples have been analyzed for their trace activities. Specific analyses have supported environmental studies of reactor effluents, local air studies of Chernobyl and Tomsk accident fallout, cosmic-induced activities in National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellite materials, ice transport of Arctic sea radionuclides, and International Atomic Energy Agency 93 + 2 program trials. This paper discussed the past development of the facility, its current status and its future goals.