Confirmation of the correct application of the gamma spectrometric method carried out in the Cuban Center for Radiation Protection and Hygiene

One of the technical requirements of the standard ISO/IEC 17025:2006 is that the laboratories that use standard methods shall confirm that they can properly operate these before introducing the tests or calibrations. Among the testing activities that execute the Environmental Radiological Surveillance Laboratory of the Cuban Center for Radiation Protection and Hygiene, is the determination of gamma radionuclides by gamma spectrometry with HPGe detectors. This test has been accredited by the Cuban Accreditation Body, according to the standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005. Fulfilling the requirements of this standard, regarding the selection of methods, the laboratory uses internationally standard method for its gamma spectrometry determinations. For this reason it was necessary to confirm the correct application of the selected method before incorporating it as scientific-technical service that the institution offers. With this purpose the method confirmation using certified reference materials of different matrixes and for the different geometries used in the laboratory were carried out. The obtained results of this study were processed statistically to check the precision and trueness of the same ones. In this sense, the laboratory participates periodically in interlaboratory comparison programs that include the radionuclides analysis by gamma spectrometry, as another form of accuracy confirmation of the results that the laboratory reports. In this paper the design of the realized intralaboratory study, as well as the results of it are presented. From the obtained results in the realized study, as well as from the interlaboratory comparison programs, it is possible to conclude that the method used in the laboratory is executed appropriately and it is under control. (author)