Evolution of a Mass Measurement Control Program

Nuclear industry weighing, calibration, and quality assurance in the 1990s can continue to be enhanced through ongoing quality improvement program efforts. The laboratory practices that were adequate for in-house quality control programs in the 1970s ceased to satisfy government regulators in the 1980s. A computer-based mass and balance certification program was locally developed at the Savannah River Site in 1986 as the centerpiece of a laboratory mass measurement control program. In 1989, the balance certification tests were revised to more stringently evaluate balance performance and a different computer system was used. The author and his associates, as balance users, began studying all aspects of mass measurements and measurement control from a total quality perspective. Efforts were made to bring regulators, balance and weight manufacturers, metrologists, and users together to optimize understandings of each other's role in providing measurements of adequate quality for the users. Information gained from the technical exchanges is being used to further improve mass measurement control at the Savannah River Site. This paper describes past, current, and future mass measurement control program activities. BACKGROUND