On the basis of the EURATOM treaty Articles 35-36, monitoring and reporting of environmental radioactivity is one of the EU member states' obligations. Article 39 stipulates that the JRC shall assist the Commission in carrying out the tasks in Chapter 3 on Health and Safety (Articles 30-39). To verify the quality and the comparability of measurement results delivered by member states laboratories, JRC-Geel organises Proficiency Tests (PTs) on the measurement of radionuclides in different environmental matrices. The EC-JRC REM (Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring) PTs are organised under a mandate from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy. A recent brief report has been published that summarised the results of the PTs since 2003 download.
Ongoing PT: 232Th, 226Ra, 40K in building materials
Table1. Summary of EC-JRC proficiency tests.
|
Year |
Matrix |
Radionuclide(s) |
Status |
Report |
| 2020 | Building materials | 232Th, 226Ra, 40K | Ongoing |
|
|
2019 |
Water |
Gross alpha/beta activity |
Completed |
|
|
2018 |
Water |
222Rn |
Completed |
|
|
2017 |
Maize powder |
134/137Cs, 131I |
Completed |
|
|
2016** |
Air filter |
134/137Cs, 131I |
Completed |
|
|
2014 |
Air filter |
137Cs |
Completed |
|
|
2012 |
Water |
Gross alpha/beta activity |
Completed |
|
|
2011 |
Bilberry |
90Sr, 137Cs, 40K |
Completed |
|
|
2010 |
Soil |
40K, 137Cs, 212/214Bi, 212/214Pb, 226Ra, 230/232Th, 234/235/238U, 238/239/240Pu, 90Sr |
Completed |
|
|
2008 |
Water |
238/234U, 226/228Ra |
Completed |
|
|
2005 |
Milk powder |
134/137Cs, 40K, 90Sr |
Completed |
|
|
2003 |
Air filter |
137Cs |
Completed |
*Tbd.- to be decided
**within the MetroERM (metrology for radiological early warning networks in Europe) EURAMET research project.