TY - RPRT TI - Statistical process control for alpha spectroscopy AB - Statistical process control(SPC) allows for the identification of problems in alpha spectroscopy processes before they occur, unlike standard laboratory Q C which only identifies problems after a process fails. SPC tools that are directly applicable to alpha spectroscopy include individual X-charts and X-bar charts, process capability plots, and scatter plots. Most scientists are familiar with the concepts the and methods employed by SPC. These tools allow analysis of process bias, precision, accuracy and reproducibility as well as process capability. Parameters affecting instrument performance are monitored and analyzed using SPC methods. These instrument parameters can also be compared to sampling, preparation, measurement, and analysis Q C parameters permitting the evaluation of cause effect relationships. Three examples of SPC, as applied to alpha spectroscopy , are presented. The first example investigates background contamination using averaging to show trends quickly. A second example demonstrates how SPC can identify sample processing problems, analyzing both how and why this problem occurred. A third example illustrates how SPC can predict when an alpha spectroscopy process is going to fail. This allows for an orderly and timely shutdown of the process to perform preventative maintenance, avoiding the need to repeat costly sample analyses. 7 figs., 2 tabs. AU - "Richardson, W" AU - "Majoras, R E [Oxford Instruments, Inc. P.O. Box 2560, Oak Ridge TN 37830 (United States)]" AU - "Joo, I O" AU - "Seymour, R S [Accu-Labs Research, Inc. 4663 Table Mountain Drive, Golden CO 80403 (United States)]" KW - "44 INSTRUMENTATION, INCLUDING NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE DETECTORS" KW - "ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY" KW - "PROCESS CONTROL" KW - "SPECIFICATIONS" KW - "ALPHA DETECTION" KW - "ALPHA SPECTRA" KW - "DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS" KW - "DATA ANALYSIS" KW - "ENERGY SPECTRA" KW - "EXPERIMENTAL DATA" KW - "LABORATORY SYSTEM" KW - "PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS" KW - "QUALITY CONTROL" KW - "SAMPLE PREPARATION" KW - "STATISTICAL DATA" DO - https://doi.org/ UR - https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/servlets/purl/456108 PB - CY - Egypt PY - 1995 DA - 1995-10-01 LA - English J2 - [] VL - C1 - Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt); Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA), Tunis (Tunisia); Middle Eastern Regional Radioisotope Centre for the Arab Countries, Cairo (Egypt) C2 - C3 - INIS-EG-001; CONF-9411323- C4 - C5 - INIS; OSTI as DE97620040 L3 - Conference: 2. Arab conference on the peaceful uses of atomic energy, Cairo (Egypt), 5-9 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the second Arab conference on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Part II: A and B; Barakat, M.F.; El-Mashri, S.M. [eds.]; PB: 1199 p. ER -