A MEASUREMENT EVALUATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT NUCLEAR MATERIAL CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY MEASUREMENTS IN BRAZIL

Participation in a measurement evaluation program (MEP) is one of a number of valuable tools that analytical chemists can employ to ensure that the data produced in the laboratory are fit for their intended purpose and consistent with expected performance values at a given time. As such, participation in a MEP is an important indicator of the quality of analytical data, and is recognized as such by independent regulatory and/or accreditation bodies. With the intent to implement such a program in Brazil, in November 2012 the Nuclear Energy Commission of Brazil (CNEN), with support from the Department of Energy of the United States’ (DOE) International Safeguards and Engagement Program (INSEP), decided to initiate a technical cooperation project aiming at organizing a Safeguards Measurement Evaluation Program (SMEP) for Brazilian facilities. The project, entitled Action Sheet 23, was formalized under the terms of the Agreement between the US-DOE and the CNEN Concerning Research and Development in Nuclear Material Control, Accountancy, Verification, Physical Protection, and Advanced Containment and Surveillance Technologies for International Safeguards Applications. The work, jointly performed by the CNEN ´s Safeguards Laboratory (LASAL) and the DOE’s New Brunswick Laboratory (NBL), has the objective to strengthen the traceability of accountability measurements and ensure adequate quality of safeguards measurements for facilities within Brazil. The program will utilize test samples characterized and provided by NBL. Recommendations to participants included measurement frequency, number of results per sample and format for reporting results using ISO methods for calculating and expressing measurement uncertainties. In this paper, we discuss the main steps taken by CNEN and NBL aiming at implementing such a program and the results that arise from it, in particular the methodology adopted by each laboratory for uncertainty estimation and the impact of that on the evaluation of individual performance. CNEN considers the program an important tool for ensuring adequate relevant Brazilian nuclear facilities’ measurement performance, identifying areas within each laboratory needing improvement, and improving the traceability and reliability of measurement data used for safeguards purposes.