1. Package Receipt
Please check the content of the package and compare it with the items listed in the attached packing list. Sign and date the packing list and send it back to IARMA using your Portal page.
2. Choice of Method/Procedure
Participants may use any routine method of their choice (i.e. you should not use these samples to test a new procedure). The within bottle homogeneity is assured at 5 g test portion for the Soil test item.
3. Description of the test items
a. Soil IARMA-157
Description
The Soil bulk material underwent a meticulous process that involved initial air-drying in an oven, followed by milling and homogenization within a controlled laboratory environment. Rigorous checks for homogeneity were carried out at every stage of bulk material handling before advancing to subsequent processing and bottling steps. The material is supplied in units of 200 g each.
b. Water test items IARMA-158 to -160
Description
Drinking water taken from a controlled natural source in Radmirje. The water was acidified before its usage.
Test items preparation
The water was gravimetrically spiked with known amounts of standard solution containing a mixture of certified radionuclides and acidified with nitric acid 2% m/m. After bottling, a homogeneity test showed acceptable results.
4. Test items handling
a. Soil test item IARMA-157
- Homogenize the Soil test item IARMA-157 for 2 minutes before each sub-sampling.
- Let the powder of the Soil settle down before opening the bottle.
- Please take all necessary precautions when opening the test item bottle to prevent any spread of the fine powder in the laboratory.
- Determine the dry-to-wet ratio of the Soil by drying an aliquot (minimum 5 g) of the test item after the analysis has been performed. The recommended temperature for drying is 90 °C overnight (approximately 12 hours).
- The Soil test item exhibits a density of 0.72 ± 0.10 [g/cm3].
b. Water test item IARMA-158, 159 and 160
- Weigh the bottles and record the measured gross mass (as received with screw‑cap and labels) on the Packing list sent to you with the test items.
- Thoroughly mix the test items before transferring the contents to your standard sample counting container for γ -spectrometry measurements.
- All results should be reported on a mass basis. It is recommended that the test item, or a part thereof taken for analysis, be measured by weight. If the test item is measured by volume, convert it to mass unit by multiplying the volume by the density of the test item 0.999±0.05 [g/ml].
5. Reporting Requirements
- All measurement results should be reported using the IARMA Portal page. The Username and password were sent to each participant.
- Based on your qualitative and quantitative analysis, report the measurement results in [Bq/kg dry mass] of the quantifiable radionuclides in the Soil test item IARMA-157 for K-40, Cs-137, Tl-208, Pb-210, Pb-212, Pb-214, Bi-214, Ra-226, and Ac-228.
- In the water test items IARMA-158 to 160 kindly report the measurement results in [Bq/kg] of Co-60, Ba-133, Cs-137, Eu-152, Pb-210, Th-232, U-238, and Am-241.
- The value of the measurement result and its combined standard uncertainty(1 sigma level) must be expressed in [Bq/kg] dry mass for the Soil and as [Bq/kg] for the water test items.
- Please report only two digits after the decimal point.
- Undetectable/unquantifiable radionuclides shall be reported as below the value of the method detection limit in [Bq/kg].
- You may use “NR” for unreported results and “NA” for Not Applicable.
- All results should be decay corrected to the reference date 15 September 2023.
- The target date for result reporting is 15 of November 2023.
