Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology MISIS measured the number of trace impurities in the ingots of ancient lead from the sunken ship of the ancient Romans, using a novel technology. It was shown that lead, which stayed underwater for 1500 years, contains such a small amount of radioactive elements — Uranium and Thorim, that it can be used without any purification in one of the most “demanding” areas — Nuclear physics — in the study of elementary particles. The experiment on the selection and determination of micro-impurities was carried out in cooperation with colleagues from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the National Center for Scientific Research (France). An article about the development published in the journal Talanta.