Nuclear Power Industry
NEI/NIST Measurement Assurance Program

Background

Program

• Distribution of radioactivity standards (or a high and low activity pair of sources where indicated) for quantification, to sponsoring participating companies approximately six times per year.
• Analysis and interpretation of the sponsors quantification of the distributed radioactivity standards to identify any discrepancies in the measurements.
• Calibration services including:
  • Calibration or verification of activity for single radionuclides in solution in the microcurie range.
  • Verification of mixed gamma-ray standards as solutions and point sources.
  • Referee measurements of split standard samples between participating suppliers and utilities.
  • Calibration of submitted single radionuclide samples in the nanocurie range by NaI(TI) spectrometry or liquid-scintillation counting.
  • Calibration of submitted special form samples.
• Assistance to sponsoring participants in eliminating difficulties and correcting errors in their measurement techniques.
• NIST traceability certificates provided without charge to sponsoring utilities and commercial suppliers.

Sources

A sample of some of the sources distributed:

Radionuclide	Media	Activity Level
3H plus 131I	liquid	37 kBq and 7400 kBq, respectively
51Cr, 54Mn, 60Co, 106Ru, plus 141Ce	on glass fiber filter	37 kBq total
55Fe plus 63Ni	liquid	7 kBq and 370 Bq, respectively
59Fe, 65Zn, 134Cs, plus 141Ce	liquid	50,000 /s for 59Fe, 5,000 /s all others
85Kr, 127Xe, plus 133Xe	gas in double stopcock sphere	5 MBq, 60 kBq and 120 kBq, respectively
239Pu, 241Pu, plus 241Am	air particulate filter	5,000 Bq to 10,000 Bq 241Pu and 500 Bq to 1000 Bq 239Pu and 241Am

Development

This program has made it possible for NIST to develop new calibrations for radionuclides and geometries, previously unavailable, in order to satisfy participants needs. New calibrations include ¹⁴¹Ce and ¹⁴⁴Ce; new geometries include air particulate filters, gas and soil marinelli beakers.

Steering Committee

A Steering Committee with a representative from each sponsoring utility, service laboratory, and commercial supplier reviews the program at least annually and determines the programs technical content. The Steering Committee is headed by a chairman chosen from one of the participating companies.

Sponsoring Fee

The current sponsoring fee is $9,950 per year. The fee is determined each year by the Steering Committee and is expected to decrease with increasing membership.

Technical Program Information

For additional information on the technical program, please call Daniel B. Golas, the program's Project Manager, or Ofelia Palabrica, the program's Research Associate, at NIST (301) 975-5540/5255.

To Become a Sponsor

For information on becoming a sponsor of the NEI/NIST Nuclear Measurement Assurance Program, please call Felix M. Killar, Jr. of NEI at (202) 739-8126.