The 3 Subatech researchers participated in articles published in the online magazine L'Actualité chimique (march-april 2021)

Radionuclides in the environment: societal and scientific challengesSub-theme : Ionising radiation and radioelements...Key-words : Radionuclides, environment, speciation, effects, interdisciplinarityBy Mirella Del Nero , Gilles Montavon (Subatech)_Researches on the behaviour of natural and artificial radionuclides (RN) in the environment aim to assess, predict or reduce the transfers and the effects of RN (as related to their speciation) in natural systems, and intersect several societal issues : safety of future storage sites of high-level radioactive wastes, management of technologicallyenhanced naturally occurring radioactive sites._In these contexts, the academic community positions on fundamental research around major issues (database on RN chemistry in solution and interfaces, evaluation of lowdose effects, remediation processes) as well as cross-cutting issues (modelling, state-of-the-art instrumentation). Challenges for the future are to develop multi-scale and interdisciplinary studies, which is illustrated in this article by studies on the fate of RN at the site of an old uranium mine (Rophin, Puy-de-Dôme) and the role of natural organic matter.

Theoretical radiochemistry: from the interpretation to the prediction of experimentsSub-theme : Ionising radiation and radioelements...Key-words : Radiochemistry, theory, methods, electronic structure, molecular dynamicsBy Rémi Maurice (Subatech) , Eléonor Acher , Nicolas Galland , Dominique Guillaumont , Florent Réal , Éric Renault , Jérôme Roques , André Severo Pereira Gomes , Bruno Siberchicot , Valérie Vallet_Molecular radiochemistry is being developed for different fields of application, such as fundamental chemistry, environment, nuclear safety, and even health. Electronic structure and/or molecular dynamics calculations allow a detailed understanding of the underlying physico-chemical phenomena, and are most often added to experimental data._This article presents recent examples from the French scientific community to show the issues and difficulties of the theoretical studies, as well as the main challenges for the coming years.

How can radioactivity cure people?Sub-theme : …that interact with living things and to treatKey-words : Radiochemistry, nuclear physics, radionuclides, imaging, therapy, nuclear medicineBy Cyrille Alliot , Ferid Haddad (Subatech - Arronax)_Nuclear medicine uses radionuclides for applications in imaging (positrons or γ emitters) and in therapy (α, β- and Auger electrons emitters). Most of the radionuclides used in this context are produced artificially and require the knowledge of many aspects of nuclear physics and radiochemistry to be able to achieve the expected purity for necessary activities._Through the example of the production at the ARRONAX cyclotron, this article presents the entire production chain for medical radionuclides, emphasizing the constraints of physics and presenting the panorama of chemical techniques used.