Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM)

Due to the ubiquity of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) there are several pieces of legislationand guidance which cover the use of substances containing NORM.

These include The Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (placing restrictions on the use of radioactive materials) and the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (placing restrictions on exposure to ionising radiation). The European Union has also adopted the European Council Directive 96/29/Euratom, which applies to work activities involving risk from ionising radiation or
involving the presence of natural radiation sources.

Some industrial and mining processes can concentrate NORM at certain stages. Examples of technologically enhanced NORM (TENORM) are: fly ash from coal burning; scales from oil and gas production; red mud from bauxite processing and phosphogypsum from fertiliser production. NIRAS has over 30 staff dedicated to providing laboratory-based analysis, which can be tailored to meet NORM legislative requirements. Our capabilities include analysis of solid waste (slag, scale, ash, dross, dust, gypsum/phosphogypsum), water (waste water, process water), geological materials (ore, mining spoils) and ion exchange resins from water treatment processes. Testing can include:

Alpha Emitters

• Natural uranium analysis (U-238, U-235, U-234)*
• Thorium isotopes (Th-232, Th-230, Th-228)*
• Radium-226 and 224
• Polonium-210
• Radon-222

Gamma Emitters

• High resolution gamma spectrometry (including Ac-228, Bi-212 Bi-214,
  K-40, Pa-234m, Pb-210, Pb-212, Pb-214, Ra-226, Th-234, Tl-208 and
  U-235)*
• In-situ gamma spectrometry

Gross Screening Analysis

• Gross alpha*
• Gross beta*

NIRAS operates a quality management system that satisfies the requirements of BS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005, and is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) for the the determinands marked for selected sample matrices; NIRAS is UKAS accredited testing laboratory no. 1011. Our latest Schedule of Accreditation can be found at

• Click here to see our UKAS schedule