Service Standards for The Whole Body and Lung Intercomparison Program

The National Calibration Reference Centre for Bioassay and In Vivo Monitoring (The Centre), operated by the Radiation Surveillance and Health Assessment Division, has a series of phantoms to allow a facility to establish that the quality of their human monitoring program meets the requirements of Regulatory Standard S-106.

These phantoms include:

• The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory torso phantom.
• The Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute torso phantom.
• The BOMAB (Bottle Manikin Absorber) -available in sizes from a four year old child to a 95 percentile male. Phantoms are filled with appropriate solutions of gamma emitting radionuclides.

The torso phantoms are available with chest wall thicknesses ranging from 1.54 to 6.44 cm and with a variety of chest wall tissue compositions (adipose:muscle). Intercomparisons are conducted on radionuclides required by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). Other radionuclides can be made available on request. Phantoms can also be used to develop calibration factors if the facility has special requirements. Phantoms are taken to sites by qualified staff who assist clients in conducting a series of measurements to demonstrate the proficiency of their measurement systems.

The Centre also provides advice and assistance to participating facilities to solve problems identified through their participation in the intercomparison programs and maintains a historical, confidential data base for efficient information retrieval and trend analysis.

Service Pledge

Dosimetry Services participating in this intercomparison meet the requirement for independent testing as given in the CNSC Regulatory Standard, "Technical and Quality Assurance Standards for Dosimetry Services in Canada", S-106, March 20, 1998.

Participants receive their individual results and can view aggregate results on the Centre's website. The individual reports and aggregate results preserve the anonymity of the participants. Copies of results are also provided to the CNSC in accordance with S-106.

The Centre's Quality Manual and relevant Quality Records will be made available to a client, on request, for a mutually agreed period.

Service Delivery Targets

The Centre provides an annual intercomparison service to facilities that perform whole body/ lung monitoring which includes:

• Phantoms that can be used to measure the bias and precision of a counting system.
• Radioactivity levels in both the Whole body and lung BOMAB phantoms guaranteed to an accuracy of ± 5 % based on gravimetric preparation.
• Access to qualified staff to assist in the test process.
• Site visits scheduled at the convenience of our clients.
• Facilities are given 30 days from the time of visit to report results. A written report evaluating participant results sent within five working days of receiving the intercomparison data from the last client facility.
• Aggregate results for the WBC intercomparison programme posted on the Centre's website, not identifying participants. There are not enough participants in the lung intercomparison programme to maintain anonymity.
• Response to clients' enquiries within two working days and issues addressed within 2 weeks of receipt.
• A quality assurance program to confirm the reliability and accuracy of the intercomparison samples which includes purchase of radionuclide standards from either the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or a laboratory traceable to NIST. Lung sets are traceable to NIST.
• Documented procedures written in accordance with ISO 9001:2000 are available for review.

Additional Information

The following documents are available from the Human Monitoring Laboratory at no cost:

• Kramer, G.H. and Limson Zamora, M. The Canadian National Calibration Reference Centre for Bioassay and In Vivo Monitoring: A programme Summary. Health Physics 67(2): 192-196; 1994.
• Kramer, G.H., The Canadian Whole Body Counting Intercomparison Programme: A Summary Report for 1989-1993. Health Physics 69(4): 560-565; 1995.

Other documentation and publications that may be of interest to thyroid monitoring facilities are listed on the Centre's WebSite (www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ncrc).

Feedback Mechanisms

Comments, suggestions for improvement or complaints may be made to:

Gary H. Kramer
Head, Human Monitoring Laboratory
Radiation Protection Bureau, Address Locator: 6302D1
775 Brookfield Road
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1C1
CANADA
Telephone: 613-954-6668;
Facsimile: 613-957-1089
e:mail: Gary_H_Kramer@hc-sc.gc.ca or hml-lsh@hc-sc.gc.ca
WWW: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ncrc