SUCCESSES IN THE EVOLVING RUSSIAN SYSTEM OF NUCLEAR REFERENCE MATERIALS

Year
2001
Author(s)
S. Guardini - Joint Research Center -- Ispra
G. Pshakin - Institute of Physics and Power Engineering
Robert Marshall - Los Alamos National Laboratory
C. Mathews - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
V. Erastov - Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy
V. Gorshkov - Scientific Research Institute of Inorganic Materials-VNIINM
V. Roudenko - Scientific Research Institute of Inorganic Materials-VNIINM
A. Mozhayev - Institute of Physics and Power Engineering
A. Savlov - Institute of Physics and Power Engineering
Y. Leschenko - Research Institute of Atomic Reactors
Abstract
The introduction of non-destructive assay (NDA) equipment to Russian nuclear facilities for material control and accounting applications has necessitated the development of a broad range of nuclear reference materials (standards or RMs) for calibration and measurement control. Additionally, Russia’s traditional system of establishing measurement performance depended primarily on adherence to written standard procedures, and lacked a hierarchical and physical traceability, which can only be achieved with extremely well-characterized nuclear “Certified Reference Materials.” This paper will describe, using many specific examples, the progress made in the past few years in the area of nuclear measurements for material control and accounting. Topics will include steps taken to establish physical traceability for NDA and destructive assay (DA) measurements, the development of a regulatory, methodological, and procedural basis for NDA, development of nuclear reference materials for NDA applications, and the advancement of staff and site capabilities in all of these areas.