International Standardization of Basic Industrial Radiotracer and Radiation Applications – Current State

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 before, the experts detected the need to standardize this method, which is widely used in petrochemical and chemical plants to identify and locate the cause of malfunction inside various process columns.
In the field of flow rate measurements of fluids in conduits using radioactive tracers, a proposal for a new international standard was prepared in 2021. It united several old international standards in this technical field: measurement of water flow in closed conduits (ISO 2975), measurement of gas flow in conduits (ISO 4053) and measurement of liquid flow in open channels (ISO 9555). The new international standard with the title “Measurement of Fluid Flow Rate in Closed Conduits – Radioactive Tracer Methods” has now the state of a Draft International Standard (DIS) and will be published as ISO 24460 in this year.
Furthermore, two other international standards using radioactive tracer methods are under development. One of them is on leak testing in pressured vessels and underground pipelines, another one is on determination of concentration or density of suspended and deposited sediment in water bodies by radiometric methods. Both has already passed the New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) stage. The first one is being edited in ISO Technical Committee 135, Sub Committee 6, Working Group 1 (ISO TC 135/SC 6/WG 1), has the stage of a Committee Draft (CD) now and will be published as ISO 6640 in the middle of next year. The second one is being edited in ISO TC 113/SC 6/WG 5, has still the stage of a Working Draft (WD) and will be published as ISO 6366 also next year.
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.