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Published on: January 7, 2019
Homogeneity assessment for grass samples used for organically bound tritium proficiency test
Carmen Varlam1, Cristina Bucur2, Irina Vagner1
1National Institute for Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies ICSI, Rm. Valcea, Valcea, 240050, Romania.
Abstract:
The paper presents homogeneity check for dried grass batch to be used in an inter-comparison exercise. When carrying out an inter-comparison exercise, the organizer must guarantee that the unsatisfactory result will not be imputed to the sample and sample's changeability. Therefore, in an inter-comparison exercise must carry on the homogeneity testing. In our study, the homogeneity was checked for two parameters, the hydrogen percentage (%H) and the organically bound tritium (OBT) activity concentration. Ten subsamples of 50g from bulk material were chosen using a stratified random selection. Two replicates from each package were analyzed for hydrogen content and OBT analysis. The homogeneity parameters were evaluated according to ISO 13528:2015. The two checked properties confirm that the batch of dried grass is sufficiently homogenous.

