Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a highly sensitive method for counti
ng atoms. It is used for detecting very low concentrations of both radionuc
lides and stable nuclides. The main advantages of AMS compared to conventio
nal radiometric methods are the use of smaller samples (mg size) and shorte
r measuring times (less than one hour). In AMS, rare isotopes from a sample
material placed in the ion source of an electrostatic tandem accelerator a
re measured by counting individual atoms with nuclear detection techniques
after acceleration to energies in the MeV range. A dramatic improvement in
background rejection for AMS systems has, in the best cases, led to a 10(8)
increase in sensitivity for isotope ratio measurements compared to the old
er technique of mass spectrometry. In this report some current applications
of the AMS technique at the Lund Pelletron accelerator, as well as the rec
ent improvements of the Lund system, are presented.