ABSTRACT
Characterizing environmental samples has been exhaustively adressed in the literature for most analytes of environmental concern. One of the weak areas of environmental analytical chemistry is that of radionuclides and samples contaminated with radionuclides. The analysis of samples containing high levels of radionuclides can be far more complex that that of non-radioactive samples. This chapter addresses the analysis of samples with a wide range of radioactivity. The other areas of characterization examined are the hazardous components of mixed waste, and special analytes often associated with radioactive materials.
