Challenges in Standing Up New Analytical Laboratories

In 2010 Los Alamos National Laboratory finished building a new facility called the Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building (RLUOB). Between 2010 and 2013 new laboratories for chemical reagent preparation and storage, non-destructive assay (NDA), mass spectrometry, and trace elements were outfitted, and these laboratories received their first radioactive samples in 2015. In 2016 the second phase of construction that outfitted remaining laboratory spaces started. This second phase of construction outfitted 7 new laboratories that would install or reconfigure labs for the NDA work, radiochemical processes, Mass spectrometry sample preparations, X-ray fluorescence work, Plutonium and Uranium assays, and nuclear forensics. This talk will go over some of the challenges faces by the Analytical chemistry team in preparing equipment, installing equipment, updating existing methods, writing documents, identifying gaps caused by changes in the requirements, future sample loads, regulations, and interpretations of DOE regulations.