IAEA-Wepal Interlaboratory Comparison Testing of Plant and Soil Samples at Ghana Research Reactor-1 NAA Laboratory

The responsibility to produce accurate and reliable elemental data is a requirement imposed on every analytical laboratory by the ISO/IEC series. It is against this backdrop that the IAEA enrolled its Member State laboratories, including Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) in an interlaboratory comparator (ILC) program conducted by the Wageningen Evaluation Program for Analytical Laboratories (WEPAL) between the periods of 2010-2013 under RAF 4022. Through the ILC program, the IAEA sought to improve on the analytical capabilities of its Member States laboratories using nuclear and its related techniques for multi-element analysis of plant and soil samples. The GHARR-1 Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) laboratory participated in 6 rounds of the ILC program. The laboratory saw major improvement in its technical performance from an unsatisfactory first time performance to the state of analytical practice over time. The ILC exercise ensured the re-enforcement of a number of QC/QA practices as well as improved determination of certain elements which were not part of routine analysis. The GHARR-1 benefitted tremendously from this initiative by the IAEA, especially the Consultants' Feedback Meetings organized for the AFRA Member States during the period of 2010-2013 which ensured thorough discussion on various technical performance and possible sources of error with respect to the quality of the analytical results. (author)