The JRC organises interlaboratory comparisons for conformity assessment for the IAEA Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL) and other laboratories in the field. These quality control programmes are under the accredited aim at the analysis of uranium and plutonium containing materials and nuclear signatures in the environment. Samples are prepared and certified at the JRC and sent ‘blind’ to participating laboratories who send in their measured results, which are evaluated according to international guidelines in comparison to the independent external certified reference values with demonstrated metrological traceability and uncertainty.
The JRC started the Regular European Interlaboratory Measurement Evaluation Programme (REIMEP) over 20 years ago for carrying out external control of the quality of the measurements of the nuclear fuel cycle materials. A similar programme ‘Nuclear Signatures Interlaboratory Measurement Evaluation Programme’ (NUSIMEP) was established in 1996 for measurement of the typically small amounts of nuclear materials in environmental samples. Recently the JRC has successfully extended the range of certified environmental test samples by providing NUSIMEP comparisons on uranium particles.
