Method for determining the number of samples in clearance verification by measurement and evaluation

Ishigami, Tsutomu; Tachibana, Mitsuo; Yanagihara, Satoshi

To release some materials in considerably low radioactive concentration arising from decommissioning activities of nuclear installations, it is required to confirm that the sum of D/C is lower than the reference value by measurement and evaluation of radioactive concentration. When the radioactive concentration is evaluated by using a statistical method where samples are taken from the material, two points should be taken into account; (1) a conservative evaluation that prevents underestimation to be caused by statistical uncertainties, (2) an error that may lead to a wrong decision where the material is not released due to the conservative evaluation. This paper proposes a method to determine the number of samples required for clearance verification based on a statistical theory in a consistent manner, where uncertainties in the sum of D/C is taken into account.