What My Statistician Never Told Me about Measurement Control: The Critical Non-Statistical Considerations in a Production Facility for Nondestructive Assay Systems

The primary function of any measurement control program (MCP) is to assure that an instrument is functioning within its desired level of bias and precision whenever it is used. The function of the control program not only includes day-to-day operations but also the ability to predict future behavior by monitoring trends and reacting to correct those deemed to be negative. In a facility that handles nuclear materials, regulations require not only the implementation of a MCP but that it must provide defensible measurements on each item and to draw valid mathematical balances around a process and the entire facility to assure effective loss detection capability. This paper will not focus on the application of statistics for measurement control; a subject that has been the focus of many excellent publications and thoroughly covered. Instead it will focus on non-statistical factors that can be just as important if not more important than statistical considerations as applied for the purposes of nuclear material accountancy in an operating nuclear facility