The technical framework supporting the accreditation action of the ENEA ION-IRP radon service

Among the general requirements to accredit a radon measuring service, outlined in the international standards as EN ISO/IEC 17025, the technical requirements play the main role in the quality assurance of a testing service. The reliability of the assessment of the radon air concentration in workplaces and dwelling is determined by many factors the most important being the physical measuring method chosen. Our Service uses the own ION-IRP radon dosimeter, specifically designed and tested to be used as a routine referenced and traceable device to monitor Rn. It is composed by a closed with air gap holder and a CR-39 ATD. In this paper the whole spectrum of the dosimeter’s technical specifications which can seriously affect the measurements validity are introduced and discussed. Moreover, because the etched track dosimetry consists of many phases, and all affect the quality of the service, we are going to discuss the problems arising from the detector storage, the shipping to and from the client, the visualization of the track by the chemical etching, and finally the analysis at the optical microscope, including the hardware and software features. A series of standard operative procedures have been edited on the basis of the knowledge of our measuring system, in order to periodically check and maintain the due quality level of the measurement. This documentation will be the basis of the validation scheme we are going to use to get the approval as an accredited laboratory for the measurement of radon air concentration (ARL).