ISO 18589-1:2019
Measurement of radioactivity in the environment — Soil — Part 1: General guidelines and definitions

Standard No.

ISO 18589-1:2019

Release Date

2019

Published By

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Latest

ISO 18589-1:2019

Scope

This document specifies the general requirements to carry out radionuclides tests, including sampling of soil including rock from bedrock and ore as well as of construction materials and products, pottery, etc. using NORM or those from technological processes involving Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) e.g. the mining and processing of mineral sands or phosphate fertilizer production and use. For simplification, the term “soil” used in this document covers the set of elements mentioned above. This document is addressed to people responsible for determining the radioactivity present in soils for the purpose of radiation protection. This concerns soils from gardens and farmland, urban or industrial sites, as well as soil not affected by human activities. This document is applicable to all laboratories regardless of the number of personnel or the extent of the scope of testing activities. When a laboratory does not undertake one or more of the activities covered by this document, such as planning, sampling or testing, the requirements of those clauses do not apply. This document is to be used in conjunction with other parts of ISO 18589 that outline the setting up of programmes and sampling techniques, methods of general processing of samples in the laboratory and also methods for measuring the radioactivity in soil. Its purpose is the following: — define the main terms relating to soils, sampling, radioactivity and its measurement; — describe the origins of the radioactivity in soils; — define the main objectives of the study of radioactivity in soil samples; — present the principles of studies of soil radioactivity; — identify the analytical and procedural requirements when measuring radioactivity in soil. This document is applicable if radionuclide measurements for the purpose of radiation protection are to be made in the following cases: — initial characterization of radioactivity in the environment; — routine surveillance of the impact of nuclear installations or of the evolution of the general territory; — investigations of accident and incident situations; — planning and surveillance of remedial action; — decommissioning of installations or clearance of materials.

ISO 18589-1:2019 Referenced Document

• ISO 11074 Soil quality. Vocabulary revision 1*， 2024-04-21 Update
• ISO 18589-2 Measurement of radioactivity in the environment — Soil — Part 2: Guidance for the selection of the sampling strategy, sampling and pre-treatment of samples*， 2022-12-09 Update
• ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories [Standard in French]
• ISO/IEC Guide 98-3 Uncertainty of measurement - Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM:1995). Extension to any number of output quantities

ISO 18589-1:2019 history

• 2019 ISO 18589-1:2019 Measurement of radioactivity in the environment — Soil — Part 1: General guidelines and definitions
• 2005 ISO 18589-1:2005 Measurement of radioactivity in the environment - Soil - Part 1: General guidelines and definitions