Temporal evolution of the performance evaluation of the laboratories at Spanish nuclear power plants in water samples

Abstract

This study examined the performance evaluation and analysis of the laboratories of Spanish Nuclear Power Plants over the last 9 years of the 34 editions organized by CIEMAT. The participating nuclear power plants were Almaraz, Ascó I, Ascó II, Cofrentes, Santa María de Garoña, Trillo, and Vandellós II. The radionuclides analyzed were those necessary to ensure operational radiological protection and the control of liquid effluents from a nuclear power plant. The radionuclides are classified into beta emitters: ³H, ¹⁴C, and ⁹⁰Sr, and gamma emitters: ²⁴¹Am, ⁵⁷Co, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁶⁰Co. The results of the z score showed that the performance in determining ³H was 100% satisfactory in most years, except in 2010 and 2014, where percentages of 83% and 87.5% were recorded, respectively. ⁹⁰Sr showed greater variability with a satisfaction range between 60 and 100%. Furthermore, the gamma emitters achieved satisfactory evaluations above 93% within the studied time range. The analysis of the distributions of the relative differences between the laboratory results and the reference values confirmed that the distributions were normal according to the Shapiro–Wilk test, with a percentage of outlier values below 5%. Additionally, linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the dispersion of the results relative to the reference values through the RSE parameter, being highest for ³H and ¹⁴C. The PomPlot graphs allowed for the visualization of the relationship between the obtained results and the reference values, indicating that, although high percentages of satisfactory evaluations were achieved, certain trends in the laboratory results must be considered to detect potential future deviations in the analytical methodologies.