ISO 22017:2020
Water quality — Guidance for rapid radioactivity measurements in nuclear or radiological emergency situation

Standard No.

ISO 22017:2020

Release Date

2020

Published By

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Latest

ISO 22017:2020

Scope

This document provides guidelines for testing laboratories wanting to use rapid test methods on water samples that may be contaminated following a nuclear or radiological emergency incident. In an emergency situation, consideration should be given to: — taking into account the specific context for the tests to be performed, e.g. a potentially high level of contamination; — using or adjusting, when possible, radioactivity test methods implemented during routine situations to obtain a result rapidly or, for tests not performed routinely, applying specific rapid test methods previously validated by the laboratory, e.g. for 89Sr determination; — preparing the test laboratory to measure a large number of potentially contaminated samples. The aim of this document is to ensure decision makers have reliable results needed to take actions quickly and minimize the radiation dose to the public. Measurements are performed in order to minimize the risk to the public by checking the quality of water supplies. For emergency situations, test results are often compared to operational intervention levels. NOTE Operational intervention levels (OILs) are derived from IAEA Safety Standards[8] or national authorities[9]. A key element of rapid analysis can be the use of routine methods but with a reduced turnaround time. The goal of these rapid measurements is often to check for unusual radioactivity levels in the test sample, to identify the radionuclides present and their activity concentration levels and to establish compliance of the water with intervention levels[10][11][12]. It should be noted that in such circumstances, validation parameters evaluated for routine use (e.g. reproducibility, precision, etc.) may not be applicable to the modified rapid method. However, due to the circumstances arising after an emergency, the modified method may still be fit-for-purpose although uncertainties associated with the test results need to be evaluated and may increase from routine analyses. The first steps of the analytical approach are usually screening methods based on gross alpha and gross beta test methods (adaptation of ISO 10704 and ISO 11704) and gamma spectrometry (adaptation radionuclides (see Clause 2) are adapted and applied (for example, 90Sr measurement according to This document refers to published ISO documents. When appropriate, this document also refers to national standards or other publicly available documents. Screening techniques that can be carried out directly in the field are not part of this document.

ISO 22017:2020 Referenced Document

• ISO 10703 Water quality - Gamma-ray emitting radionuclides - Test method using high resolution gamma-ray spectrometry*， 2021-05-31 Update
• ISO 10704 Water quality — Gross alpha and gross beta activity — Test method using thin source deposit
• ISO 11704 Water quality — Gross alpha and gross beta activity — Test method using liquid scintillation counting
• ISO 13160 Water quality - Strontium 90 and strontium 89 - Test methods using liquid scintillation counting or proportional counting*， 2021-06-30 Update
• ISO 13161 Water quality — Polonium 210 — Test method using alpha spectrometry
• ISO 13162 Water quality - Carbon 14 - Test method using liquid scintillation counting*， 2021-05-31 Update
• ISO 13163 Water quality - Lead-210 - Test method using liquid scintillation counting*， 2021-06-30 Update
• ISO 13165-1 Water quality — Radium-226 — Part 1: Test method using liquid scintillation counting*， 2022-11-15 Update
• ISO 13165-2 Water quality — Radium-226 — Part 2: Test method using emanometry*， 2022-09-19 Update
• ISO 13165-3 Water quality - Radium-226 - Part 3: Test method using coprecipitation and gamma-spectrometry
• ISO 13166 Water quality — Uranium isotopes — Test method using alpha-spectrometry
• ISO 13167 Water quality — Plutonium, americium, curium and neptunium — Test method using alpha spectrometry*， 2023-06-01 Update
• ISO 13168 Water quality*， 2023-11-01 Update
• ISO 17294-2 Water quality — Application of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) — Part 2: Determination of selected elements including uranium isotopes*， 2023-10-18 Update
• ISO 19581 Measurement of radioactivity - Gamma emitting radionuclides - Rapid screening method using scintillation detector gamma-ray spectrometry
• ISO 20042 Measurement of radioactivity — Gamma-ray emitting radionuclides — Generic test method using gamma-ray spectrometry
• ISO 9696 Water quality - Gross alpha activity - Test method using thick source
• ISO 9697 Water quality — Gross beta activity — Test method using thick source
• ISO 9698 Water quality — Tritium — Test method using liquid scintillation counting
• ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories [Standard in French]

ISO 22017:2020 history

• 2020 ISO 22017:2020 Water quality — Guidance for rapid radioactivity measurements in nuclear or radiological emergency situation