The importance of radiochemistry for the characterization of NORM and of environments contaminated by NORM

Abstract

Naturally occuring radioactive materials (NORM) are present in the environment and they can be concentrated by technical activities, particularly those involving natural resources. This article describes radioanalytical problems arising in the accurate determination of natural radionuclides in NORM and in the environment contaminated by NORM. The solution of these problems is of particular importance since the results can be used to estimate the dose to workers and to the population. A special emphasis is given to the reliability of the radiochemical methods and procedures applied for the detection and measurement of alpha or beta emitters by radiometric or non-radiometric techniques.

Keywords:

• NORM
• Radioanalytical methods
• Radiochemical separation

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Prof. Corrado Testa for the helpful suggestions and the text revision.