ALMERA Validated Analytical Methods

Tested and validated analytical procedures are important tools for the production of reliable, comparable and ‘fit for purpose’ analytical measurements. However, finding and choosing a procedure can be a challenge due to a wide variety of technologies available and the rapidity of developments in the field.

Therefore, since 2004 the IAEA’s programme related to ALMERA has included activities aimed towards the development of a set of procedures for determination of radionuclides in environmental samples. It is intended that as these are developed, they will be made available to laboratories wishing to use procedures that have been validated by a large number of laboratories and therefore could be regarded as having been widely tested.

The following table reports the most recent outcomes of ALMERA’s activities aimed towards the development of a set of procedures for determination of radionuclides in environmental samples, both for routine environmental monitoring and emergency monitoring. The number between brackets is related to the corresponding IAEA publication available for download below the table.

O: Routine procedure for environmental monitoring
O: Rapid method for emergency monitoring

1. A procedure for the rapid determination of Pu isotopes and Am-241 in soil and sediment samples by alpha spectrometry, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 11, 2009 (download report (pdf))
2. A procedure for the determination of Po-210 in water samples by alpha spectrometry, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 12, 2009 (download report (pdf))
3. A Procedure for the Sequential Determination of Radionuclides in Phosphogypsum: Liquid Scintillation Counting and Alpha Spectrometry for 210Po, 210Pb, 226Ra, Th and U Radioisotopes, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 34, 2014 (download report (pdf))
4. A Procedure for the Sequential Determination of Radionuclides in Environmental Samples: Liquid Scintillation Counting and Alpha Spectrometry for ⁹⁰Sr, ²⁴¹Am and Pu Radioisotopes, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 37, 2014 (download report (pdf))
5. A Procedure for the Rapid Determination of ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra in Drinking Water by Liquid Scintillation Counting, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 39, 2014 (download report (pdf))
6. Rapid Simultaneous Determination of 89Sr and 90Sr in Milk: A Procedure Using Cerenkov and Scintillation Counting, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 27, 2013 (download report (pdf))

The following review report is also available as an IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series document:

• Determination of radium isotopes in environmental samples, Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series No. 19, 2010 (download report (pdf))

Bibliographic references of related ALMERA publications in journals are given below:

Reviews

• Determination of ²¹⁰Po in environmental materials: A review of analytical methodology, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 65, 267-279 (2007)
• Determination of Pu isotope concentrations and isotope ratio by ICP-MS: a review of analytical methodology, Journal of Analytical. Atomic Spectrometry, 22, 827-841 (2007)
• Determination of Pu isotopes by alpha-spectrometry: a review of analytical methodology, Journal of Radioanalytical and. Nuclear Chemistry, 283, 203-223 (2010)
• Determination of ²⁴¹Am by alpha-spectrometry: a review of analytical methodology, Journal of Radioanalytical and. Nuclear Chemistry, 284, 341-366 (2010)
• Determination of radiostrontium; a review of analytical methodology, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 68, 2306-2326 (2010)
• Role of the IAEA’s ALMERA network in harmonization of analytical procedures applicable worldwide for radiological emergencies, Radiation Protection and Environment, 39, 53-61 (2016) (download (pdf))
• ^239+240Pu from “contaminant” to soil erosion tracer: Where do we stand?, Earth-Science Reviews, 172, 107-123 (2017) (download (pdf))

Research articles:

• Development and application of an on-line sequential injection system for the separation of Pu, ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb from environmental samples, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 66, 223-230 (2008)
• Quantification of measurement uncertainty in the sequential determination of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po by liquid scintillation counting and alpha-particle spectrometry, Accreditation and Quality Assurance, 13, 691-701 (2008)
• Method validation of a procedure for determination of ²¹⁰Po in water using DDTC solvent extraction and Sr-resin, Journal of Radioanalytical and. Nuclear Chemistry, 279, 639-646 (2009)
• Development of extraction chromatographic separation procedures for the simultaneous determination of actinides, Radiochimica Acta, 97, 9-16 (2009)
• Validation of rapid method for the determination of radiostrontium in milk, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 67, 786-793(2009)
• Improved rapid determination of ⁸⁹Sr and ⁹⁰Sr in milk using Cerenkov and scintillation counting, in Proceedings of the Conference on Advances in Liquid Scintillation Spectrometry, Paris, France, (2010)
  
• Measurement of 226Ra in soil from oil field: Advantages of gamma-ray spectrometry and application to the IAEA-448 CRM, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 87, 461-467 (2014)
• IAEA’s ALMERA network: Supporting the quality of environmental radioactivity measurements, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 109, 90-95 (2016)
• Assessment of measurement result uncertainty in determination of 210Pb with the focus on matrix composition effect in gamma-ray spectrometry, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 109, 101-104 (2016)