Quality control and performance evaluation of k0-based neutron activation analysis laboratory using SRM-NIST

Abstract

Quality evaluation of the k0-standardized neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) at Es-Salam research reactor has been implemented by analyzing SRM-NIST, the standard reference material of National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA). Four SRM such as: Tomato leaves, Estuarine sediment, rice flour and oyster tissue have been analyzed by k0-NAA method. The results revealed that the k0-NAA established in our laboratory has met the requirements of multi-element analysis for the intended applications with about 32 elements: As, Au, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Mn, Mo, Na, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, U, W, Yb, Zn and Zr in matrices of environment, geology and biology among others. Evaluation criteria for the laboratory quality used in this work are the statistical analysis parameters namely: u-scores, laboratory result/certified value ratios and relative biases as well as the control charts those are shown in the paper.