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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Óscar Zurrón, Guillermo Sánchez, Carolina Álvaro
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 145 | Number 1 | September 2003 | Pages 153-159
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE03-A2371
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As an example of the application of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) work to the nuclear industry, the validation of the control module CSAS26 of SCALE 4.4a for criticality calculations on a personal computer platform is presented. This work has been done using the models of critical experiments being compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) since 1992. The description and results of this compilation were first presented during the Fifth International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC'95). Out of 2881 critical configurations included in the latest edition (September 2002) of the ICSBEP "International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments," NEA/NSC/DOC(95)03, OECD/NEA, 131 have been selected for the CSAS26 validation. The selected critical experiments have characteristics similar to the systems to be simulated with CSAS26 for low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel fabrication applications. They represent both homogeneous configurations and hexagonally pitched rod lattices of low-enriched (from 1.60 to 5.00 wt% 235U) UO2 with several absorbers. The statistical uncertainties related to the application of CSAS26 for criticality calculations are also evaluated. The great number of cases involved allows an exhaustive statistical treatment of the data, including the analysis of correlations related to the type of system being simulated. The statistical uncertainties found are very small. As a result, the module CSAS26 is considered as a quite suitable calculational method for application to criticality safety analysis at LEU facilities.
