International Standardization of Basic Industrial Radiotracer and Radiation Applications

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with the International Society for Tracer and Radiation Applications (ISTRA) promotes the international standardization of basic industrial radiotracer and radiation applications. On behalf of IAEA and ISTRA experts from many countries employed in leading research centers and renowned industrial companies analyze existing international standards regarding the necessity of their update or amendment as well as the need for new standards in this field.
In June 2020 a new international standard on “Non-destructive testing - Gamma ray scanning method on process columns” was published as ISO 23159. About three years ago, the experts detected the need to standardize this method meanwhile widely used in petrochemical and chemical process plants as a possibility to check the interior and to locate the cause of malfunction in tray and packed bed columns to avoid basic errors at the application of this method.
In the field of flow rate measurements of fluids in conduits using radioactive tracers several international standards are known:
 Measurement of water flow in closed conduits (ISO 2975)
 Measurement of gas flow in conduits (ISO 4053)
 Measurement of liquid flow in open channels (ISO 9555).
All three standards describe more or less the same measuring methods. Therefore, there is no reason to maintain three independent standards on similar subjects. To bundle the existing diversity experts proposed a new international standard on “Measurement of Fluid Flow Rate in Closed Conduits – Radioactive Tracer Methods” which is under development just now. As soon as finalized, this standard will be published as ISO 24460.
The experts are planning further international standards using radioactive tracer methods for the near future. One of them will deal with leak testing in pressured vessels and underground pipelines, another one will be on determination of concentration or density of suspended and deposited sediment in water bodies by radiometric methods. For the last one, the working draft is already prepared, submitted to the responsible ISO Technical Committee 113 and got the number 6640.
ISO standards are part of accreditation of radiotracer and radiation applications groups, facilitating the promotion and implementation of these competitive technologies in national, regional and international scale.