Several techniques of sample attack for the determination of radioisotopes are reviewed. These techniques include 1) digestion with nitric or hydrochloric acid in Parr digestion bomb, 2) digestion with a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, 3) digestion with a mixture of hydrofluoric, nitric and perchloric acids, and 4) fusion with sodium carbonate, potassium fluoride or alkali pyrosulfates. The effectiveness of these techniques to decompose various soils and minerals containing radioisotopes such as lead-210 uranium, thorium and radium-226 are discussed.

This document describes project method validation guidance that a radioanalytical laboratory should comply with in order to validate methods used to process samples submitted during a radiological or nuclear incident, such as that caused by a terrorist attack.