Inter-laboratory comparison measurements of radiochemical laboratories in Slovakia

The first inter-laboratory comparison organized by the radiochemistry laboratory of Water Research Institute (WRI) in Bratislava was carried out in 1993 and since then is it realized on an annual basis and about 10 radiochemical laboratories from all over Slovakia are participating. The gross alpha and gross beta activities, and the activity concentrations of 222Rn, tritium, and 226Ra, and U nat concentration in synthetic water samples are compared. The distributed samples are covering the concentration range prevailing in potable and surface waters and are prepared by dilution of certified reference materials. Over the course of the years 1993–2008, we observed the improvement in the quality of results for most of the laboratories. However, the success rate of the gross alpha determination activity is not improving as much as the other parameters.