The National Institute of Standards and Technology has opened a new laboratory facility that will work to augment the organization’s radiation measurement capacities for food processing, healthcare and national security.
The Radiation Physics Building’s H Wing measures 85K square feet and will house 38 laboratory modules that will accommodate efficient calibrations of gamma and X-Ray radiation, NIST said Monday.
The facility will also develop radionuclide validation requirements, expand radioactive gas standards and optimize national security efforts through the detection of nuclear components. NIST built the laboratory under a modernization initiative with an expected cumulative cost of $327M.
“Every type of health care in the U.S. that depends on radiation relies on the measurements done at the NIST Radiation Physics Building,†said Karen Dunn Kelley, deputy secretary at the Department of Commerce.
“Which is why it is so important that this addition is now complete and ready for use.â€
