Details
- Publication date
- 12 December 2013
- Author
- Joint Research Centre
Description
Authors: Y. Aregbe, H. Toivonen, A-L. Weber, J. Dackner, P. Klumpp, T. Prohaska, E. Zuleger, O. Alique, R. Bencardino, R. Jakopic, P. Peerani
The ESARDA Working Groups on Techniques and Standards for Destructive Analysis (WG DA); on Techniques and Standards for Non-Destructive Analysis (WG NDA); and on Novel Approaches/Novel Technologies (WG NA/NT) organised a dedicated workshop on ‘Reference material needs and evaluation of measurement uncertainties in Destructive (DA) and Non-Destructive Analysis (NDA)’. This workshop was hosted by the European Commission Directorate General Energy (DGENER) Nuclear Safeguards in Luxembourg from 5-7 March 2013. The workshop addressed the needs for standards/reference materials supporting DA and NDA instrument metrology and conformity assessment, and their application in estimation of measurement uncertainty including also uncertainty in nuclear data in view of new approaches in safeguards and needs for improvement of accuracy of existing DA and NDA techniques. The focus was to establish a regular exchange on these topics relevant to all three working groups with a special emphasis on supporting the needs of safeguards inspectors and evaluators. Participation was open to members and observers of the three ESARDA WGs, to DGENER and to a limited number of invited participants from expert and research institutes. Forty-nine representatives from the main European and international nuclear safeguards organisations, reference measurement institutes, metrology institutes, nuclear measurement laboratories, nuclear industry and from environmental sciences institutes participated in this workshop. The plenary lecture on ‘Euratom safeguards – inspections – evaluations’ given by DGENER was followed by foursessions, the first on 'Safeguards - Inspections and Evaluations', the second on 'Destructive Analysis', the third on 'Non-Destructive Analysis', and the fourth session on 'Novel Technologies'. The findings and points of discussion from these sessions were further discussed in a working group using the ‘World-Café’ approach around five selected topics, ensuring that all participants could benefit from the ‘collective intelligence’. This report is a summary of the points of discussion raised during the sessions and in the working group. The WS participants proposed recommendations for setting priorities on needs of reference materials in DA and NDA, for strengthening the understanding based on metrological principles and theGuide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM) between different approaches in uncertainty estimation for DA/NDA, and in the evaluation of reported results. Furthermore recommendations were given in view of compliance with international standards and the implementation of quality systems. Research and development towards new methods, new instruments, novel technologies, and modelling should be carried out having in mind right from the outset the requirements of feasibility, transparency, traceability and accuracy of measurement results. A particular outcome of this workshop was that all participants recognised the need and the benefit of intensifying cooperation and exchange between the safeguards; operators; research; and metrology communities, and follow-up activities were suggested.