The first conference on “Tracers and tracing methods” was arranged in Nancy, France, in November 1998 as a national French event. The main organizer was Laboratoire des Sciences du Genie Chimique, CNRS-ENSIC.

The second conference on the same subject was organized as an international event, also in Nancy and by the same main organizer as the first conference. It took place in May 2001.

The third conference in this series, briefly called “Tracer 3”, moved outside France to the small holyday resort city of Ciechocinek in Poland and was arranged in June 2004. The main organizer was Warsaw University of Technology.

The fourth conference with the nickname “Tracer 4” moved back to France to the small village of Autrans and was arranged in October 2006. The main organizer was Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, CEA, Grenoble.

The fifth conference, “Tracer 5” moved outside Europe to the cultural heritage village of Tiradentes in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, and was arranged in October 2008. The main organizer was Centro de Desenvolvimento da Technologia Nuclear, CDTN, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The sixth conference was chosen to be hosted in Oslo, Norway in June 2011. Tracer 6 was organized by Institute for Energy Technolog (IFE) in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).