IAEA-447: a new certified reference material for environmental radioactivity measurements.

The environment program of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) includes activities to produce and certify reference materials for environmental radioactivity measurements. This paper describes methodologies applied in preparation and certification of the new IAEA-447 moss-soil certified reference material. In this work, the massic activities and associated standard uncertainties of (40)K, (90)Sr, (137)Cs, (208)Tl, (210)Pb, (210)Po, (212)Pb, (214)Pb, (214)Bi, (226)Ra, (228)Ac, (234)Th, (234)U, (238)U, (238)Pu, (239+240)Pu, (241)Pu and (241)Am were established. Details of the analytical methods including radiochemical procedures were reported. Analytical challenges and lessons learned from the reported results in the worldwide IAEA proficiency test using this material was summarized and best analytical practices to improve the performance for environmental radioactivity determinations were recommended. IAEA-447 is an important reference material for quality control and method validation of gamma-ray spectrometry and radiochemical analytical procedures.

Fallout radionuclide-based techniques for assessing the impact of soil conservation measures on erosion control and soil quality: an overview of the main lessons learnt under an FAO/IAEA Coordinated Research Project.

This paper summarizes key findings and identifies the main lessons learnt from a 5-year (2002-2008) coordinated research project (CRP) on "Assessing the effectiveness of soil conservation measures for sustainable watershed management and crop production using fallout radionuclides" (D1.50.08), organized and funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency through the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. The project brought together nineteen participants, from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America and Vietnam, involved in the use of nuclear techniques and, more particularly, fallout radionuclides (FRN) to assess the relative impacts of different soil conservation measures on soil erosion and land productivity. The overall objective of the CRP was to develop improved land use and management strategies for sustainable watershed management through effective soil erosion control practices, by the use of ¹³7Cs (half-life of 30.2 years), ²¹°Pb(ex) (half-life of 22.3 years) and 7Be (half-life of 53.4 days) for measuring soil erosion over several spatial and temporal scales. The environmental conditions under which the different research teams applied the tools based on the use of fallout radionuclides varied considerably--a variety of climates, soils, topographies and land uses. Nevertheless, the achievements of the CRP, as reflected in this overview paper, demonstrate that fallout radionuclide-based techniques are powerful tools to assess soil erosion/deposition at several spatial and temporal scales in a wide range of environments, and offer potential to monitor soil quality. The success of the CRP has stimulated an interest in many IAEA Member States in the use of these methodologies to identify factors and practices that can enhance sustainable agriculture and minimize land degradation.

The new IAEA reference material: IAEA-434 technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) in phosphogypsum.

A reliable determination of Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials in phosphogypsum is necessary to comply with radiation protection and environmental regulations. In this respect, a new phosphogypsum reference material was produced and certified to assist in the validation of analytical methods and the quality assurance of produced analytical results. This paper presents the sample preparation methodology, material homogeneity assessment, characterization campaign results and assignment of property values, and associated uncertainties. The reference values and associated uncertainties for Pb-210, Ra-226, Th-230, U-234 and U-238 were established based on consensus values calculated from analytical results reported by three National Metrology Institutes and five expert laboratories.

Results of an IAEA inter-comparison exercise to assess 137Cs and total 210Pb analytical performance in soil.

Fallout radionuclides (FRNs) such as (210)Pb and (137)Cs have been widely used to assess soil erosion and sedimentation processes. It is of major importance to obtain accurate analytical results of FRNs by gamma analysis before any data treatment through conversion model and to allow subsequent comparison of erosion and sedimentation rates from different case studies. Therefore, IAEA organized an inter-comparison exercise to assess the validity and reliability of the analytical results of (137)Cs and total (210)Pb using gamma-spectrometry in the various laboratories participating in the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project on "Assess the effectiveness of soil conservation measures for sustainable watershed management using fallout radionuclides". Reference materials were distributed to 14 participating laboratories and, using a rating system, their analytical results were compared to the reference values assigned. In the case of (137)Cs, the analytical results were satisfactory with 66% of the laboratories producing acceptable results. Only the sample with low (137)Cs activity (2.6+/-0.2Bqkg(-1)) gave less accurate results with more than 25% not acceptable results. The total (210)Pb analysis indicated a clear need for corrective actions in the analysis process as only 36% of the laboratories involved in the proficiency test was able to access total (210)Pb with occurrence (bias 10%). This inter-laboratory test underlines that further inter-comparison exercises should be organized by IAEA or regional laboratories to ensure the quality of the analytical data produced in Member States. As a result of the above-mentioned proficiency test, some recommendations have been provided to improve accurate gamma measurement of both (137)Cs and total (210)Pb.

The new IAEA-372 grass-certified reference material for (40)K and (137)Cs.

A new grass-certified reference material characterized for (137)Cs and (40)K has been issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Characterization of this material was conducted by a group of national metrological institutes and expert laboratories. The paper describes the process for assigning the certified reference value to the material.

Matrix materials for proficiency testing: optimization of a procedure for spiking soil with gamma-emitting radionuclides.

The IAEA Reference Materials Group of the Chemistry Unit, Agency's Laboratories Seibersdorf, has developed and optimized a procedure for spiking some environmental matrices with gamma-emitting radionuclides. This paper describes the spiking procedure, homogeneity testing of the spiked material, and assignment of property values and their associated uncertainties for the radionuclides 54Mn, 65Zn, 60Co, 109Cd, 134Cs, 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am. This procedure has already been successfully used in an IAEA proficiency test on the determination of 137Cs and 210Pb in spiked soil and has been found to be appropriate for production of soil materials for proficiency testing and internal quality control samples. The main advantage of this procedure is a low uncertainty arising from heterogeneity, which was found to be less than 1.2% for all the analytes studied.

Preparation of in-house reference soil sample containing high levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials from the oil industry.

An in-house reference soil sample containing high levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials collected from contaminated areas in the Syrian oilfields has been prepared as a part of the quality assurance program in AECS. Homogeneity of the sample has been examined using three methods, viz. particle size distribution of the sample matrix, total alpha/beta counting and gamma spectrometry. In conjunction with Dixon and Grubb tests as statistical tools, ten random samples from the original sample were used for this investigation. Reference values for the three radium isotopes (224Ra, 226Ra, 228Ra) were determined using gamma spectrometry equipped with HPGe detectors having high relative efficiencies of 80%, while the reference value of 210Pb in the sample was determined using radiochemical separation and counting of its daughter 210Po by alpha spectrometry. ANOVA analysis was used to estimate the uncertainties due to measurement and inhomogeneity of the sample; uncertainty due to inhomogeneity was found to be around 2.6 times the measurement uncertainty.