NWAL support to IAEA safeguards analysis

Full text: The IAEA maintains a Network of Analytical Laboratories that support the Destructive Analytical Services to the Department of Safeguards. These Network Laboratories fall into three categories: those that supply reference materials; those that supply analyses of Environmental Samples; and those that supply analyses of Nuclear Material Samples. Since 1995, the number of nuclear material samples analyzed by the IAEA has declined, while the number of environmental samples has increased. It now appears that the sample throughput is constant at just over 1000 per year. Based on these changing sample requirements, the IAEA has increased the number of analyses performed by it's environmental network laboratories and decreased the no. of samples analyzed by it's nuclear material network laboratories, while the need for provision of reference materials remains constant. This paper seeks to show the changes and general trends in the use of the network of analytical laboratories. (author)