Development of the NBS beryllium isotopic standard reference material

The National Bureau of Standards, in conjunction with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry community, is in the process of developing a beryllium isotopic solution Standard Reference Material. The master 10Be/9Be solution was characterized isotopically by resonance-ionization and secondary-ion mass-spectrometric-based techniques, and radioactivity measurements were by liquid scintillation counting. The master solution was gravimetrically diluted with 9Be to a final 10Be/9Be atomic ratio of 3 x 10-11. The preliminary data indicate a half life for 10Be of 1.3 million years, and AMS measurements are within 10% of the known beryllium isotopic ratio