title: 100 years of radionuclide metrology.
abstract: The discipline of radionuclide metrology at national standards institutes started in 1913 with the certification by Curie, Rutherford and Meyer of the first primary standards of radium. In early years, radium was a valuable commodity and the aim of the standards was largely to facilitate trade. The focus later changed to providing standards for the new wide range of radionuclides, so that radioactivity could be used for healthcare and industrial applications while minimising the risk to patients, workers and the environment. National measurement institutes responded to the changing demands by developing new techniques for realising primary standards of radioactivity. Looking ahead, there are likely to be demands for standards for new radionuclides used in nuclear medicine, an expansion of the scope of the field into quantitative imaging to facilitate accurate patient dosimetry for nuclear medicine, and an increasing need for accurate standards for radioactive waste management and nuclear forensics.
authors.affiliation: National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW, UK. Electronic address: steven.judge@npl.co.uk.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Judge
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Metrologia delle Radiazioni Ionizzanti, ENEA, C.R. Casaccia, P.O. Box 2400, I-00100 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: CEA, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chauvenet
authors.affiliation: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Collé
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8462, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Felice
authors.affiliation: Metrología de Radiaciones Ionizantes, CIEMAT, Avenida Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: García-Toraño
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, 2440 Geel, Belgium.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wätjen
keywords: Becquerel; Brief history of radionuclide metrology; Curie; Driving forces of development; Impact; Radium standards