American Nuclear Society Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Presentation to the ANS Board of Directors James S. Baker Pittsburgh, PA June 15, 2004

NCSD Mission  Criticality safety for activities with fissile material outside reactors  Acquisition of data related to nuclear criticality  Developing analytical methods  Sharing of information on all aspects of criticality safety

Criticality Accident History

NCSD Leadership Officers Chair: Jim Baker Vice Chair: Christa Reed Treasurer/Finance: Kevin Reynolds Secretary: Kevin Kimball Exec Committee Chris Robinson Mark DeHart Paul Felsher James Felty Keyes Neimer Bonnie Rumble Nigel Gulliford Dennis Mennerdahl Fitz Trumble

NCSD Committees –Nominating Committee –Program Committee –Membership Committee –Finance Committee –Honors and Awards –Education Committee –Publications/Newsletter Committee

NCSD Membership Trend

Demographics

NCSD Budget

Technical Programs

Sponsor a Topical (either embedded or stand-alone) every four years. For reference, at Reno, Nov 2001, with an embedded topical, there were a total of 11 sessions & 80 papers Alternating two years from each topical is an ICNC meeting (Class IV topical) with similar level of participation

Governance Newsletter published once/twice per year Expanding use of web site – Succession Planning –Guidance for Officers is drafted –Executive committee proposal to consider longer terms of office Strategic Plan: A work in progress

Contributions to ANS NCSD created a Fact Sheet about criticality accidents for public/news media Consistently support for governance & technical program activities Participation with Outside Prof. Societies –EFCOG(SAWG), International collaborations Non-Meeting Publication efforts are primarily in ANSI/ANS Standards

Importance of Standards These are a vital part of the information sharing that has led to fewer accidents Continuing dialogue among subject matter experts Accepted by DOE and NRC De facto rules for this business

Criticality Safety Standards ANSI/ANS-8.1, Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside Reactors. ANSI/ANS-8.3, Criticality Accident Alarm System ANSI/ANS-8.5, Borosilicate-Glass Raschig Rings ANSI/ANS-8.6, In-Situ Measurements for Criticality Safety ANSI/ANS-8.7, Storage of Fissile Materials. ANSI/ANS-8.10, Safety controls With Shielding and Confinement ANSI/ANS-8.12, Plutonium-Uranium Fuel Mixtures

Criticality Safety Standards ANSI/ANS-8.14, Soluble Neutron Absorbers ANSI/ANS-8.15, Special Actinide Elements ANSI/ANS-8.17, Handling, Storage and Transportation of LWR Fuel Outside Reactors ANSI/ANS-8.19, Administrative Practices ANSI/ANS-8.20, Nuclear Criticality Safety Training ANSI/ANS-8.21, Fixed Neutron Absorbers ANSI/ANS-8.22, Limiting and Controlling Moderators ANSI/ANS-8.23, Emergency Planning and Response

Criticality Safety Proposed Standards ANSI/ANS-8.24, Validation of Calculational Methods ANSI/ANS-8.25, Criticality Safety Postings ANSI/ANS-8.26, Criticality Safety Engineer Training and Qualification ANSI/ANS-8.27, Burnup Credit

Professional Development: Historical Perspective Discipline evolved from critical experiments facilities’ staff By the 1960’s the pioneers created a strong basis for the practice of NCS In subsequent years, becoming a NCS specialist involved mentoring by a senior practitioner Recently, regulators have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of formality in the training and qualification process

Professional Development Tutorials on a variety of topics are offered at national ANS meetings, typically about once per year Certificates of attendance at technical sessions are provided upon request ANSI/ANS-8.24 WG on Training & Qualification of NCS Specialists

Professional Development (cont’d) Education Committee has drafted several white papers on key topics: –Definition of an NCS specialist –Content of an NCS evaluation –Mentoring Program –NCS specialist training & qual program –Double contingency principle –Education Committee Overview

Peer Recognition NCSD provides two annual awards based on nomination by colleagues : –Technical Excellence –Distinguished Service Best paper awards given at each meeting

Student Support Financial support for two/three meetings per year Technical session on student research included about every two years Awards given for best papers Currently investigating possibility of providing a scholarship

Key Concern There is only one remaining critical experiments facility in the U.S.: Pajarito Site (TA-18) at Los Alamos Nat’l Lab DOE is working toward moving most of the fissile material elsewhere--primarily to the DAF at the Nevada Test Site—this year NCSD has expressed concerns about continued availability of this vital resource.

Summary NCSD is a strong division within ANS with a continuing commitment to sharing technical information while promoting ANS and its members Metrics have stimulated a good dialogue, and helps motivate NCSD to attend to a couple of items that have been neglected We have ongoing efforts to strengthen Division Planning and Succession Planning