[en] Semiconductor silicon is among the purest materials having ever been produced by modern technology. Thus, it is quite suitable as a primary reference material validating the correctness and the detection capabilities of developed analytical methods. Among them neutron activation analysis plays a competitive role. The U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has initiated and carried out an interlaboratory comparison in order to study the spread of analytical results worldwide evolved by several laboratories dealing with specimens of extreme purity. The outcome of the experiment was intended to review the capabilities of NAA as well as to differentiate between bulk and surface contamination. (orig./DG)