Projects & Programs
National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program Proficiency Testing
The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP)for personnel dosimeters used to monitor worker exposure to ionizing radiation is one of several laboratory accreditation programs administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The purpose of the NVLAP program is to promote "a uniformly acceptable base of professional and technical competence in processing laboratories." For the personnel dosimetry NVLAP, this is accomplished through site visits by technical assessors and through testing of the personnel dosimetry processors' abilities to correctly evaluate irradiations supplied by an independent proficiency testing laboratory. The Radiological Calibration and Standards Facility at PNNL has been the primary testing laboratory for the NVLAP since 1986. Performance testing for extremity dosimetry was added to the accreditation process in 1995.
The following tasks are performed for the NVLAP at our facility:
- Whole body personnel dosimeter proficiency testing for compliance to ANSI N13.11-1993 and ANSI N13.11-2001
- Voluntary electronic personnel dosimeter testing under ANSI N13.11-2001
- Voluntary testing of extremity dosimeters under HPS N13.32-1995 (modified by NIST Handbook 150-4.)