Latin American and Caribbean intercomparison of surface contamination monitoring equipment

In October 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sponsored an intercomparison exercise of surface contamination monitoring equipment, which was held at the Laboratorio Nacional de Metrologia das Radiacoes Ionizantes, from the Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria, IRD/CNEN, Rio de Janeiro. This intercomparison was performed to evaluate the calibration accessibility in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thirteen countries within the region and IAEA have sent instruments to be compared, but only five countries and IAEA were considered apt to participate. Analysis of instruments, results and discussions are presented and recommendations are drawn. (authors)