LAUSR

The application of comparator instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) combined with the internal standard method (ISM) was considered to study vegetation samples by medium- and long-lived radionuclides. Fe content found by the relative method was used as the internal comparator to analyze the majority of elements, while Na, K, and As were determined by the method of the “external addition” of the comparator. Four certified reference materials of vegetation and twelve plant species provided for WEPAL IPE proficiency tests were analyzed to verify the accuracy. INAA ISM was applied to measure the contents of twenty four elements in eighteen native grass samples collected in a riverbed within and nearby to the former Semipalatinsk Testing Site. Element content distributions of the samples were concluded corresponding their natural variability.