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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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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Why should safeguards by design be a global effort?
Jeremy Whitlock
I can’t think of a more exciting time to be working in nuclear, with the diversity of advanced reactor development and increasing global support for nuclear in sustainable energy planning. But we can’t lose sight of the need to plan for efficient international safeguards at the same time.
Global nuclear deployment has been underpinned since 1970 by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), making it a key customer requirement for governments to demonstrate unequivocally that the technology is not being misused for weapons development.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has helped verify this commitment for more than 50 years, but it has never safeguarded many of the advanced reactors (and related fuel cycle processes) being developed today.
David Pickett, Yiming Pan (CNWRA), John Wise, Ricardo Torres, Darrell Dunn (NRC)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 410-413
To renew a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) specific license for an independent spent fuel storage installation or a certificate of compliance for a dry storage system, the applicant must conduct an aging management review (AMR) that evaluates the potential aging-related degradation of those structures, systems, and components (SSCs) determined to be within the scope of renewal. Any credible aging mechanisms and effects identified for important-to-safety SSCs must be addressed in either time-limited aging analyses (TLAAs), if applicable, or aging management programs (AMPs). To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the renewal process, the NRC is developing guidance for its staff in reviewing AMRs and AMPs—titled the Managing Aging Processes in Storage (MAPS) Report. The report generically evaluates potential aging mechanisms for storage system components, concluding whether or not the mechanisms could affect an important-to-safety function. Aging mechanisms are evaluated for (i) casks and internal components; (ii) neutron shielding; (iii) neutron poisons; (iv) concrete overpacks and support pads, and ceramic fiber insulation; and (v) spent fuel assemblies. The report provides aging management tables that identify the component-specific aging mechanisms and consequent effects that must be managed. Finally, the report describes example AMPs that include recommended prevention, mitigation, monitoring, and inspection activities.