Last week, the Aurora trainees visited SOCOTEC in Didcot. The trainees have all been involved in collecting the samples in the field and often see them dropped off at SOCOTEC, so this was a great opportunity to learn how they are processed to measure the quantity of radioactive material in them.

Hosted by Jasper, we began the visit by learning about what SOCOTEC do and the theory behind their processing methods. We were then given a tour around the labs, where Jasper took us through what happens to a sample from when it is dropped off to when the results are analysed.

We had the opportunity to ask questions about each part of the process as we went around and also discussed some of the more unique sampling strategies, such as how radon concentrations can be measured in water.

Overall, it was an insightful visit where all of the trainees learned a lot and saw their innovative methods for processing such large numbers samples!