Progress in the k 0 -IAEA program

The single-comparator instrumental neutron activation analysis (k0-INAA) has been introduced in the late 1970s and since then remarkable progress has stimulated the acceptance of this methodology from the NAA community. A large number of publications are referring to k0 standardization in a variety of analytical fields of applications. About half of the existing NAA laboratories are currently working on the basis of monostandard, or single-comparator technique. The need for harmonization of the applicable software tools has triggered the development of a user-friendly and versatile programme supported by the IAEA to assist Member States in their quality output from nuclear analytical laboratories. k0-IAEA software, available since the beginning of 2005, has now been updated by the incorporation of a peak area evaluation routine to facilitate its use from different spectrum accumulation platforms. For k0-IAEA, version 2.0 only the raw channel input is needed for obtaining reliable quantitative results. This paper describes the changes being implemented for version 2.0 of the k0-IAEA program.