Quality Assurance and Quality Control Programmes of Research Reactor Operation and Utilization at GHARR-1 Facility

Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) of Research Reactor Operation (RRO) and utilization activities at GHARR-1 facility ensures that all activities carried out by Research Reactor Operators and Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) Experts follow standard operating procedures and specifications. NAA in GHARR-1 facility involves sample preparation, sample transfer, sample counting and sample analysis. Monitoring of these activities ensures that qualitative and quantitative results of elemental analysis produced by the GHARR-1 facility are precise and accurate. Reactor Operation also involves setting neutron flux for startup, and monitoring associated parameters on the Control Console (CC) during reactor operation. QA/QC monitoring and evaluations forms have been developed for sample preparation, sample transfer, sample counting, sample analysis, reactor operation and reactor maintenance activities. These forms are used to monitor the performance of reactor operation and NAA to help in early detection of any irregularities and faults arising from these activities. This work presents how QA/QC monitoring programmes developed for the various activities of reactor operation and NAA are carried out at GHARR-1 facility to ensure standard operating procedures and specifications are followed to produce Qualitative and Quantitative analysis reports of elemental analysis.