Uncertainty budget and validation of NAA using Reference Materials

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been used at the research reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Techniques for measuring different types of samples for many years. For standardization purposes, the single comparator method has been applied. Since the theoretical basis of NAA is well understood, the sources of uncertainty can be well estimated, detailed uncertainty calculations have been recently performed to meet the increasing demands for method validation. INAA was validated by the analyses of sets of reference materials (RM), selectivity was controlled, accuracy and precision of the method as well as linearity, detection limits and measuring ranges were determined. Under the conditions of QA/QC, NAA can meet the high demands of trace element analysis. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.