Sampling methods. A survey of methods in use in the Nordic Countries
Activity Acronym:
BOK-1
Authors:
Mats Isaksson
Abstract:
This report is a survey of sampling techniques currently in use for radioactivity measurements in the
Nordic countries, but restricted to sampling techniques for pasture, soil and deposition in emergency
situations. It is found that the participating laboratories apply similar sampling procedures for pasture,
including cutting height and size of sampled areas. Soil samples are generally taken by some sort of
corer of different diameter. The number of cores taken varies, different sampling patterns are used, and
pooling of the samples is done by some of the laboratories. The analysis of pasture and of soil is made
with NaI-detectors or by high-resolution gamma spectrometry on fresh or dried samples. Precipitation
collectors of a range of sizes are used to determine the activity concentration in precipitation and of dry
deposited radionuclides. The analysis is made with high-resolution gamma spectrometry, either directly
on a water sample or on ion exchange resins.