Updated standard published on nuclear criticality safety engineer training and qualification program—ANSI/ANS-8.26-2024

March 19, 2025, 9:30AMANS News

ANSI/ANS-8.26-2024, Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer Training and Qualification Program, has just been published and is available in the online ANS store. The standard, developed by the American Nuclear Society, received approval from the American National Standards Institute on November 21, 2024, and was published January 10, 2025.

This standard provides guidance for the content of training programs for nuclear criticality safety (NCS) specialists who are responsible for developing the analyses, controls, and safety documentation required for the safe handling of fissionable materials. This standard presents a matrix of training and qualification (T&Q) criteria based on education and experience combined with individual job functions and provides for qualification of experienced staff by documentation. The standard presents a flexible array of competencies for use by management to develop tailored T&Q programs applicable to site-specific job functions, facilities, and operations. This standard stresses the necessity of integrating standard training subjects with operational experience in order to qualify as an NCS engineer.

Key elements of an effective training program include an understanding of the impact of controlled parameters on the multiplication of a defined system and an ability to effectively predict the reactivity of a system or process. A careful review of lessons learned from previous criticality accidents and other site-specific nonconformances are also valuable program elements to be considered.

Training to the program content elements in this standard can enable NCS engineers to become effective advocates in fostering a nuclear safety–conscious workforce and sound nuclear safety practices in support of facility operations personnel. One key element of the training program is practical experience with the parameters that affect the neutron multiplication of fissionable material systems. This experience can be achieved through hands-on NCS courses, conduct of experiments in a research reactor environment, or participation in critical experiments.

This standard does not specify how to develop or execute these T&Q programs; it provides only the elements that should be included in the programs. It is not intended that these programs lead to any professional engineer certification, only that they create a common basis for NCS engineer qualification across the diverse organizations that rely on these specialists. Standard criteria for establishing scopes, functions, and levels of competence for safety professionals are available in ANSI/ASSE Z590.2-2003 (R2012), Criteria for Establishing the Scope and Functions of the Professional Safety Position.

ANSI/ANS-8.26-2024 is a revision of ANS-8.26-2007 (R2022; withdrawn). The 2024 edition adds an appendix providing examples of NCS engineer training program content. ANSI/ANS-8.26-2024 presents the elements of a T&Q program for several categories of NCS engineers. The standard does not include guidance on how these elements are to be incorporated into site-specific T&Q programs, but it does require that such programs be established (Sec. 3.1). The appendix presents examples of content that should typically be included in T&Q programs, depending on the activities of specific sites, presented according to the corresponding areas of Sec. 6 of the standard. Management should use this appendix only as a basis for establishing/maintaining their T&Q program, not as an all-inclusive template.

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