Significance and Use

Because of concerns for safety and the protection of nuclear materials from theft, stringent specifications are placed on chemical processes and the chemical and physical properties of nuclear materials. Strict requirements for the control and accountability of nuclear materials are imposed on the users of those materials. Therefore, when analyses are made by a laboratory to support a project such as the fabrication of nuclear fuel materials, various performance requirements may be imposed on the laboratory. One such requirement is often the use of qualified methods. Their use gives greater assurance that the data produced will be satisfactory for the intended use of those data. A qualified method will help assure that the data produced will be comparable to data produced by the same qualified method in other laboratories.

This guide provides guidance for qualifying measurement methods and for maintaining qualification. Even though all practices would be used for most qualification programs, there may be situations in which only a selected portion would be required. Care should be taken, however, that the effectiveness of qualification is not reduced when applying these practices selectively. The recommended practices in this guide are generic; based on these practices, specific actions should be developed to establish a qualification program.

1. Scope

1.1 This guide provides guidance for selecting, validating, and qualifying measurement methods when qualification is required for a specific program. The recommended practices presented in this guide provide a major part of a quality assurance program for the laboratory data (see Fig. 1). Qualification helps to assure that the data produced will meet established requirements.

1.2 The activities intended to assure the quality of analytical laboratory measurement data are diagrammed in Fig. 1. Discussion and guidance related to some of these activities appear in the following sections:

1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

FIG. 1 Quality Assurance of Analytical Laboratory Data

2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

ASTM Standards

C1009 Guide for Establishing a Quality Assurance Program for Analytical Chemistry Laboratories Within the Nuclear Industry

C1128 Guide for Preparation of Working Reference Materials for Use in Analysis of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Materials

C1156 Guide for Establishing Calibration for a Measurement Method Used to Analyze Nuclear Fuel Cycle Materials

C1210 Guide for Establishing a Measurement System Quality Control Program for Analytical Chemistry Laboratories Within the Nuclear Industry

C1297 Guide for Qualification of Laboratory Analysts for the Analysis of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Materials

Keywords

control; laboratory; measurement(s); personnel; qualification; validation: Accountability; Bias; Chemical laboratories; Documents/documentation--nuclear applications; Failure end point; Impurities--nuclear materials; Laboratory--nuclear; Major/minor elements; Measurement processes/systems; Precision--nuclear testing/analysis; Qualifications--nuclear facilities; Quality assurance(QA)--nuclear; Uranium; Validation--test methods;

ICS Code

ICS Number Code 17.240 (Radiation measurements)

DOI: 10.1520/C1068-03R11

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ASTM C1068