Abstract |
The Multi-Agency Radiological Laboratory Analytical Protocols (MARLAP) manual provides guidance for the planning, implementation, and assessment of projects that require the laboratory analysis of radionuclides. MARLAP's basic goal is to provide guidance and a framework for project planners, managers, and laboratory personnel to ensure that radioanalytical laboratory data will meet a project's or program's data requirements. To attain this goal, the manual is intended to provide the guidance necessary for national consistency in the form of a performance based approach for meeting a project's data requirements. The guidance in MARLAP is designed to help ensure the generation of radioanalytical data of known quality, appropriate for its intended use. MARLAP was developed by a workgroup that included representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). State participation in the development of the manual involved contributions from representatives from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the State of California. Contractors to EPA, DOE, and NRC, and members of the public, have been present during the open meetings of the MARLAP workgroup. Examples of data collection activities that MARLAP supports include site characterization, site cleanup and compliance demonstration, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, remedial and removal actions, effluent monitoring of licensed facilities, environmental site monitoring, background studies, and waste management activities. |