AN APPROACH TO QUALITY ASSURANCE IN A RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT

As a Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory, the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) must observe the DOE order mandating a quality assurance (QA) program. The model presented for a QA program was ANSI/ASMS standard NQA-1. Although NQA-1 is a generic standard for institutional and project QA, it proved difficult to adapt to a non-nuclear, non-production environment directed at bench/laboratory scale basic and applied research. The elements of research quality are not the same as the elements of traditional QA common to hardware, construction or manufacturing activities. This paper describes SERI's approach in developing an institutional QA program. The SERI QA effort builds upon the scientific techniques practiced by its research staff and fits these practices into a QA context. The program comprises three groups of QA elements: program elements — organization, administration, and control processes for QA; baseline elements—quality considerations applying to all research operations; supplementary elements—quality requirements to be applied in addition to baseline elements, as circumstances dictate. These last elements are applied at line management discretion or when baseline elements inadequately cover particular aspects of a research program. Application of one supplementary element—measurement uncertainty analysis—will be presented and related to a research-oriented QA program. In addition, problems of implementation, scope, and acceptance of QA in a research institute will be discussed.