Determination of natural radionuclides

The laboratory of radiochemistry at SURO Praha pays great attention to the determination of isotopes of uranium, thorium and radium in environmental samples and from workplaces with the possibility of increased exposure from natural sources (NORM) and waste from them. Methodologies for the determination of individual isotopes as well as for the sequential determination have been developed, which can be used for monitoring the radiation situation in the Czech Republic and NORM workplaces as well as for monitoring the internal contamination of persons. Alpha spectrometry is used for the determination of ²³⁸U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁴U and ²³²Th, ²³⁰Th and ²²⁸Th isotopes, for the determination of ²²⁶Ra emanometry and ²²⁸Ra gamma spectrometry after chemical separation. ²³²U, ²²⁹Th, ¹³³Ba yield monitors are used for separation efficiency. The correctness of procedures is regularly verified by participation in interlaboratory comparisons. The thesis contains procedures of determination and their comparison and results. (authors)