Evaluation of the 2016 ENV57 MetroERM measurement comparison on 137Cs, 134Cs and 131I in air filters

Timotheos Altzitzoglou; Mikael Hult; Marc De Cort

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2018.10.022

Evaluation of the 2016 ENV57 MetroERM measurement comparison on ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³¹I in air filters

Appl Radiat Isot. 2019 Jan:143:123-131. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2018.10.022. Epub 2018 Oct 30.

Authors

Timotheos Altzitzoglou¹, Mikael Hult², Marc De Cort³

Affiliations

¹ European Commission - Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security, Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel, Belgium. Electronic address: timosaltzi@gmail.com.
² European Commission - Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security, Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel, Belgium.
³ European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security, Via Enrico Fermi 2749, I-21027 Ispra, VA, Italy.

PMID: 30412865
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2018.10.022

Abstract

In 2016, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre organised an interlaboratory comparison exercise on the measurement of ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³¹I in air filters. The exercise was conducted in the frame of the MetroERM EMRP project with code ENV57. This paper describes the context of the interlaboratory measurement comparison, the technical implementation, the air filter measurements performed by the participating laboratories and finally the evaluation of the comparison results. The intercomparison exercise results are such that 56 out of the 67 laboratories (i.e. 84%) reported values within the ±20% range of the reference value for both the ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs. The evaluation of the performance of the laboratories on ¹³¹I was complicated and the details are explained. Nevertheless, 20 (30%) laboratories reported results for ¹³¹I with a percentage difference from the reference value within the ±20% range.

Keywords: 131I in air; 134Cs; 137Cs; ENV57 MetroERM; Environmental radioactivity; Interlaboratory comparison; Proficiency testing; Spiked air filter.