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LEA: Laboratoire Etalons d'Activité (Activity Standards Laboratory)
The Activity Standards Laboratory (French acronym: LEA) is a unit specializing in production of radioactive reference sources for use in industry, medicine and research. In its area of activity, it brings together the most highly specialized skills and techniques from CEA and CERCA. Located on the Tricastin site, it is part of the CERCA facility.
A flexible and innovative laboratory
Standard or customized products
The LEA offers a wide array of radioactive standards in gaseous, liquid, or solid form, for alpha, beta, gamma, or X-rays, and in a variety of geometric shapes.
It designs and manufactures standard and customized products to meet the individual needs of every customer in its sector. These products are used to set and calibrate measurement devices such as spectrometers, liquid scintillation counters, contaminant detectors, activity meters, etc.
In total, LEA's product line features more than 600 reference sources meeting national and international regulations.
Targeted applications
Medical applications
Nuclear medicine is practiced in thousands of hospitals throughout the world. High quality medical imaging and measurement device calibration are essential to improving diagnostics and keeping patients informed.
Applications for environmental research and testing
The LEA supplies standards and sources for research laboratories that require the highest degree of precision in their measurements in order to conduct their studies. As the levels of activity being measured are typically quite weak, measurement device calibration is a particularly delicate undertaking.
Industrial applications
The LEA's products are applied in industrial settings for quality control and radiation protection, among other things.
A full range of services
In addition to fabrication and calibration, the LEA also imports and distributes special sources in order to meet its customers' needs. The LEA is also authorized to handle sealed sources (loading and unloading of devices containing sealed sources).
In the interest of environmental protection, the LEA recovers sealed sources for treatment and storage.
A commitment to quality
Absolute guarantees
CERCA LEA's activities adhere to national and international standards pertaining to health and safety for the management and transport of radioactive materials.
The laboratory's activities are subject to a rigorous quality control system certified by COFRAC (The French Accreditation Committee), guaranteeing competence, impartiality, and product quality.
Its activity standards are linked with the LNE/LNHB (Henri Becquerel National Testing and Metrology Laboratory), the most renowned laboratory in the world.
In addition to constant monitoring by the IRSN (French National Institute for Safety and Radiation Protection), CERCA LEA is committed to its own code of ethics and transparency with respect to all regulatory and oversight bodies.
Capacity for innovation
Possessing the skills and expertise to harness radionuclides, select them for provision, and measure, process, and package them does not mean a thing unless it results in a product meeting the most exacting demands of the sector.
Knowledge of the market and its history and the willingness to listen carefully to our customers has allowed CERCA LEA to respond in a precise manner to their needs while continually developing our product line, our individual products, and our packaging to adapt to the industry's needs and to achieve progress in research.
Grid room in the Activity Standards Laboratory (LEA)
