Summary and analysis of national-wide γ-spectrometry assessment for radiological health institutions from 2015 to 2017

Abstract

Objective To standardize the operation and data processing in radiological health institutions in China, in order to promote the assessment of γ-spectrometry, improve the measurement and analysis capabilities of each laboratory, and accordingly improve accuracy of environment sample measuring. Methods By collecting the values of 232Th, 40K and 137Cs contents in soil samples from 2015 to 2017, the assessment results of γ-spectrometry laboratores were summarized and analyzed. Results The technical institutions from 25 provinces were involved in the assessment until 2017, including disease control and prevention centers, entry-exit inspection and quarantine agencies, research institutes, universities and companies. The number of participants was increased from 40 to 48, and the qualified rate exceeded 90%, and the excellent rate was no less than 11% each year. The percentage of relative deviation less than 10% between the measuring result of 232Th, 40K and 137Cs contents and the reference value was larger than 80% in 2017. The accuracy became better. However, the number of institutions with U and Z score less than 1 was increased from 11 to 25, suggesting that the precision of measuring result has also been greatly improved. Conclusions Radiological health institutions in China have good measurement and analysis capabilities with regard to γ-spectrometry, which can meet the needs of environmental sample measurement and in-food radionuclide risk monitoring in an emergency of nuclear and radiation. But a few institutions′ measuring results were largely different from the reference values, as a consequence, it is important to strengthen their ability of measurement and analysis. Key words: γ-spectrometry; Relative deviation; Accuracy; Precision