norm

Norm or NORM may refer to:

• Norm (artificial intelligence), a set of statements used to regulate artificial intelligence software
• Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative ethics that is prescriptive rather than a descriptive or explanatory abstraction
• Norm (social), expected patterns of behaviour and belief, often studied in sociology, social psychology, and many other academic fields
• Peremptory norm, a fundamental principle of international law which is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is ever permitted
• Norm, a statistical concept in psychometrics representing the aggregate responses of a standardized and representative group are established for a test, against which a subject is compared
• NORM, an abbreviation for naturally occurring radioactive materials
• NORM (non-mobile older rural males), an acronym in dialect studies coined by Chambers and Trudgill (1980) for a group to which speakers frequently referred

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) and Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. These natural radioactive elements are present in very low concentrations in earth's crust and are brought to the surface through human activities such as oil and gas exploration or mining and through natural processes like leakage of radon gas to the atmosphere or through dissolution in ground water. Another example of TENORM is coal ash produced from coal burning in power plants. If radioactivity is much higher than background level, handling TENORM may cause problems in many industries and transportation.