NIST Radiochemistry Inrtercomparison Program
Annual Users Meeting
Summary
In 1997 the Radioactivity Group established a traceability-testing program for low-level radiochemistry measurements. Each year, four rounds of evaluations are conducted with participating university, federal, national, interest group, and contract laboratories. The matrices (water, soil, sediment, air filter, synthetic feces and synthetic urine) and activity concentrations reflected common radioanalytical analyses performed by the participating laboratories. Laboratories are issued Certificates of Traceability for the evaluation results. The program has been implemented to meet the guidance for traceability as defined under ANSI N42.23, ANSI N42.22, and ANSI N13.30. These voluntary standards define a hierarchy of traceability with an unbroken linkage to NIST. Under the standards, the evaluation materials shall be composed of appropriate matrices (i.e., matrix categories commonly analyzed by the laboratory) and consist of appropriate (commonly encountered) activity concentration ranges. Current participants in the NRIP program requested these traceability evaluations as part of their quality assurance programs.
For more information see http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div846/Gp4/Environ/nrip.html.
Please direct any questions or comments to:
Dr. Amir Mohagheghi
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O.Box 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87111
(505) 844-6910 Office
(505) 844-5977 Fax