Preparation and evaluation of new reference materials for naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM): Zirconium silicate, bauxite, and phosphogypsum

JuHyun Lee; Yong-Jae Kim; Jung-Seok Chae; Jung Suk Oh; EunHee Kwon; Jong-Myoung Lim; Hoon Lee; Jeong Hee Han; Mai Khanh Pham; Svetlana Nour; Jerome La Rosa; Pawel Gaca; Benoit Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109525

Preparation and evaluation of new reference materials for naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM): Zirconium silicate, bauxite, and phosphogypsum

Appl Radiat Isot. 2021 Feb:168:109525. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109525. Epub 2020 Nov 24.

Authors

JuHyun Lee¹, Yong-Jae Kim², Jung-Seok Chae², Jung Suk Oh³, EunHee Kwon⁴, Jong-Myoung Lim⁵, Hoon Lee⁶, Jeong Hee Han⁷, Mai Khanh Pham⁸, Svetlana Nour⁹, Jerome La Rosa⁹, Pawel Gaca¹⁰, Benoit Daniel¹¹

Affiliations

¹ NORM Safety Center, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), Daejeon, 34142, Republic of Korea; Department of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: k723ljh@kins.re.kr.
² NORM Safety Center, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), Daejeon, 34142, Republic of Korea.
³ Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea.
⁴ University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Daejeon, 34057, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Korea Foundation of Nuclear Safety (KoFONS), Gyeonggi-do, 13493, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Center for Research Equipment, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Cheongju, 28119, Republic of Korea.
⁸ Environment Laboratories, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Monte Carlo, 98000, Monaco.
⁹ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA.
¹⁰ GAU-Radioanalytical Laboratories (GAU), University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, 161/31 European Way, SO14 3ZH, Southampton, United Kingdom.
¹¹ EICHROM EUROFINS Radioactivité (EICHROM), Rue Maryse Bastié - Bât C, 35170, Bruz, France.

PMID: 33321369
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109525

Abstract

New reference materials (RMs), zirconium silicate, bauxite and phosphogypsum, were produced and characterized according to an ISO guide. The homogeneity of the three RMs was evaluated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and characterizations of the three candidate materials were performed through a collaborative study with nine expert radioanalytical laboratories. The assigned radionuclides are ²³⁰Th, ²³²Th, ²³⁴U, ²³⁵U, and ²³⁸U for zirconium silicate; ²³⁰Th, ²³²Th, ²³⁴U, and ²³⁸U for bauxite; and ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁰Th, ²³⁴U, and ²³⁸U for phosphogypsum.

Keywords: Naturally occurring radioactive materials; Reference materials; Thorium; Uranium.