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    Deficient Analysis Method For I-131 in Environmental Water Samples: The Importance of Rigorous Quality Control

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    Brandon Rengifo Reynaga

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    Deficient Analysis Method For I-131 in Environmental Water Samples: The Importance of Rigorous Quality Control

    Uploaded by

    Brandon Rengifo Reynaga
    10 views15 pages

    Original Title

    Greg Barley RETS-REMP 09

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    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    10 views15 pages

    Deficient Analysis Method For I-131 in Environmental Water Samples: The Importance of Rigorous Quality Control

    Uploaded by

    Brandon Rengifo Reynaga

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 15

    Deficient Analysis Method for I-131 in

    Environmental Water Samples:


    The Importance of Rigorous Quality
    Control

    Greg Barley-Progress Energy


    Success does not consist
    in never making mistakes,
    but in never making the
    same one a second time.
    George Bernard Shaw
    NUREG 1301, 1302
    I-131 LLDs

     1 pCi/L drinking water


     15 pCi/L if no drinking water pathway
     Originally published in 1979 Branch Technical
    Position (BTP) for Regulatory Guide 4.8
    Progress Energy Corporate
    Radiochemistry Laboratory
     Part 50 Composite Analyses for HTDs
     Entire fleet
     REMP
     Sample collection for Shearon Harris Plant
     Analyses and REOR preparation for
    Progress Energy Carolina plants
    REMP I-131 Test Methods
     Drinking Water Pathway
     I-131 separation onto resin, then analyze
    resin by gamma spectroscopy
     Non-Drinking Water Pathway (previous
    method)
     Concentrate gamma emitters by heated
    evaporation
     1 liter to 500 mL for brackish water
     1 liter to 50 mL for non-brackish water
    History of Evaporation Method
     Developed as a means to minimize
    counting time circa 1976
     Developed “in-house” by technically
    respected personnel
     Emphasis was on achieving low levels for
    I-131 in drinking water
     Evaporation method not evaluated when
    BTP and subsequent NUREGs published.
    Back to Basics

     What happens to iodine when it is heated?


     How does one ensure that an analytical
    method produces precise, reproducible
    results?
    The Problem’s History
     Past quality control blind crosscheck analyses had
    not tested the evaporation method for non-drinking
    water samples; only the drinking water separation
    method had been tested
     There was no central facility procedure or document
    containing the Radiochemistry QA elements
     The need to test all methods was not captured in any
    facility procedure or document
    The Problem Becomes Apparent
     Lab personnel begin testing blind QC crosschecks by
    heated evaporation
     Non-volatile nuclides usually in agreement
     Initially the idea that I-131 could volatilize was
    recognized, so QCs were analyzed for I-131 prior to
    heated evaporation, but missed the connection to
    field sample analyses
     During subsequent staff discussions, questions arose
    as to why the QCs were being prepared differently for
    I-131 analyses than field samples were prepared
    The Problem Unveiled

     Examined the I-131 in QC samples that had


    been subjected to heated evaporation
     Where gentle heating was applied, losses were
    low (0-10%)
     Where heating was more aggressive, losses were
    substantial (0-50%)
    Significance
     Historically, plant I-131 not found in these
    non-drinking water samples
     However, the requirement to meet the LLD of
    15 pCi/L was not met for some number of
    samples that were subjected to aggressive
    heating
     Problem potentially dates back to initial
    development of the method in mid-1970’s
    Causes
     No central QA/QC document or procedure that set
    forth the required programmatic elements
     QA/QC Program failed to change to meet changing
    regulatory requirements (BTP, NUREGs)
     Insufficient priority assigned to QA/QC Program by
    supervision
     No analytical standard for method
     Overconfidence in the method
    Corrective Actions
     Discontinue heated evaporation
     Direct gamma analyses without evaporation,
    except for drinking water separation onto resin
     Review other test methods to ensure all have
    some QC verification
     Develop central QA/QC procedure
     Increased resource and priority on QA/QC
    Program
    Summary
     Ensure that all analytical methods are
    tested by some quality control measure
     Always exercise questioning attitude
     Just because a method was developed by
    respected individuals and has been in use
    for a long time does not necessarily make
    it correct
     When there are questions, keep going until
    they are answered acceptably
    Questions, comments?

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