Biography
The Radiochemistry Lab (RadLab) at UCF, led by Dr. Vasileios Anagnostopoulos, focuses on fundamental and applied aspects of Radiochemistry, Nuclear Forensics, as well as Nuclear Fuel Disposal and Environmental Radiochemistry.
One of the group’s research areas focuses on the proliferation of radionuclides in the environment due to sorption, complexation with ligands and macromolecules, interface redox phenomena and mineral incorporation, suing kinetic and speciation modelling tools.
Projects dealing with nuclear fuel disposal focus on actinide compounds and complexes with ligands under conditions relevant to waste tanks, near- and far field repositories environments, as well as ligand assisted dissolution of reduced radionuclide phases, simulating scenarios of waste tank leakage or human intrusion.
Nuclear forensics is a large part of RadLab portfolio. Our pre-detonation portfolio focuses on the identification of elemental and spectroscopic trace signatures on uranium phases. Our post-detonation projects investigate transition metal signatures on radiological debris, as well as synthesis and characterization (isotopic and morphological) of surrogate nuclear explosion debris using laser and plasma reactor methods.
Dr. Anagnostopoulos has led projects funded by the DOE – Office of Environmental Management, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Homeland Security and National Nuclear Security Administration. He serves as a subject matter expert in several panels and committees yearly and in 2024 he was awarded the prestigious UCF Reach for the Stars Award, for early career scientists with highly successful research and impact.
Areas of Research
- Radiochemistry
- Actinide Chemistry
- Nuclear Forensics
- Nuclear Fuel Cycle – Waste Processing & Disposal
- Environmental Chemistry
