Radioactivity at work

The use of nuclear radiations as measurement, analysis or control means for the industry started in the beginning of the 50's. The radiometric techniques have left the specialized laboratories to integrate the production lines of factories and to contribute to the quality assessments using on-line measurements, without sampling or contact with the controlled material and threw walls. This paper describes the principle of measurement tools using radiations or particles (gamma, X-rays, alpha, beta particles and neutrons), their emitters and sensors, and gives some examples of applications: nuclear gauges for water turbidity measurements downstream of dams, gamma-graphy of pieces of artwork before restoration, detection of wood defects using gamma-densitometry or radiography, surface quality control of nickel coated electrodes for batteries. (J.S.)