Quality system implementation in Member States of the IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), through its Technical Co-operation Programme, has supported the establishment of many nuclear analytical and complementary laboratories in Member States. This included the development of capabilities for the use of various nuclear analytical techniques that include alpha, beta, and gamma spectrometry; radiochemical analysis; neutron activation analysis; energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis; and total reflection X-ray fluorescence. As economic, ecological, medical, and legal decisions are frequently based on laboratory results, they need to be based on accepted national and international standards. The IAEA has taken up this important issue to enhance and foster the competitiveness of nuclear analytical laboratories with the consideration that nonnuclear capabilities are equally important. The projects aim at enhanced quality awareness, a concise system for documentation, establishment of standard operating procedures, procedures for validation of methods, surveillance of method performance, systems for sample management, regular qualification of personnel, client liaison and safety. These projects follow the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and promote participating laboratories to maintain a self-sufficient quality system by which they might be able to obtain national accreditation. This contribution describes the general concept of these projects and discusses some of the results achieved.