Abstract: A method and apparatus for the detection of hydrocarbons dissolved in bodies of water and for the determination of their concentration in the water wherein a water sample is introduced into a sealed system in which the hydrocarbons are driven out of solution into a gas phase by heating the sample or exposing it to low pressure, or both, a laser beam of a wavelength or a frequency which provides for at least partial overlapping with the absorption lines of the hydrocarbons is directed through the gaseous phase, a correction laser beam of a wavelength such that it is not subjected to absorption by hydrocarbons is also directed through the gaseous phase to determine the influence of gases other than hydrocarbons and the amount of hydrocarbons in the water iscalculated from the amount of light energy absorbed in the gas phase by any hydrocarbons therein and a correction as determined by the correction laser beam.

Abstract: A method of identifying leaky components of a multi-component system in wh the individual components contain a charge. Additional substances having different element or isotope compositions are added to these charges to code them. If leaks occur, element or isotope analysis of the escaping charges then allows identification of the leaky component. If the multi-component system includes a nuclear reactor, different element or isotope combinations of krypton and xenon may be added to the individual fuel rods during production, and optical saturation spectroscopy may be used to analyze the leaking gases.