Original Date: 01/23/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Sandia's Primary Standards Laboratory (PSL) is responsible for ensuring that all calibration and certifications performed at DOE weapons laboratories conform to standards requirements for traceability. To achieve this objective, PSL developed a formal process to monitor and control the continued assessment of the complex. A key factor in the execution of this strategy is the periodic visits to each of the DOE laboratories with a team of metrologists to provide an in-depth technical review (audit) of all of the laboratories' calibration activities. Traditionally, the team reviews uncertainty analysis, accuracy capability, traceability to national standards, training of metrologists, software maintenance, standard recall activities, and management of the calibration process.

To date, the PSL has maintained a successful record of maintaining the calibration of more than 5000 standards used in over 12 separate DOE facilities across the United States. Through the use of technical surveys, PSL has found that the audits provide an excellent measure of the standards laboratory's actual capabilities and provides for valuable exchange of technical information which occurs between the survey team and customers.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.