The Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) deals with technical and scientific issues relevant to criticality safety. Specific areas of interest include (but are not limited to) investig...
Published date:
28 August 2024
The primary purpose of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) is to compile critical and subcritical benchmark experiment data into a standardised format that allo...
Published date:
28 August 2024
The NEA nuclear science programme is developed and executed by the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC), comprising high-level scientific experts from all NEA member countries.
Published date:
26 July 2024
Criticality is the state of a nuclear reactor when there is a self-sustaining chain reaction of fissionable material. Used or spent fuel criticality is associated with the scientific issues around as...
Published date:
24 March 2020
The meetings took place in April 2024 in the United States.
Published date:
25 April 2024
14 -
18 September 2025
Austin, Texas, United States
This meeting intentionally occurs halfway between the International Conference on Nuclear Criticality (ICNC) editions to encourage and foster the collaboration and connections that occur at ICNC. Bas...
Published date:
25 April 2024
NEA/NSC/R(2022)6
The goal of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) Subgroup on Experimental Needs for Criticality Safety Purposes (SG-5) was to highlight the needs of int...
Published date:
15 September 2023
Burn-up credit is a safety approach that accounts for the reduction in the reactivity of configurations with spent nuclear fuel due to the change in their composition after irradiation.
Published date:
11 September 2023
The NEA Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) held its bi-annual meetings in June 2023
Published date:
24 July 2023
NEA/NSC/R(2021)3
Monte Carlo criticality calculations involve a two-step procedure based on a stochastic implementation of the power iteration method: first, achieve convergence of the fission source distribution dur...
Published date:
17 February 2023
The Technical Review Groups for both projects met at the NEA headquarters on 3-7 April 2023.
Published date:
24 April 2023
Published date:
23 February 2016
NEA/NSC/R(2021)1
This benchmark report has been compiled under the guidance of the NEA Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) in the Subgroup on the Role of Integral Experiment Uncertainties and Covarian...
Published date:
30 January 2023
NEA/NSC/WPNCS/DOC(2011)5
Spent Nuclear Fuel Assay Data for Isotopic Validation - State-of-the-art Report
Published date:
6 June 2011
NEA/NSC/DOC(1995)3
Document content and format guide for the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) – NEA/NSC/DOC(95)03
Published date:
24 March 2020
NEA/NSC/DOC(1996)4
Criticality Calculations of BWR Spent Fuel in Storage and Transportation, Yoshitaka Naito, Hiroshi Okuno and Yoshihara Ando (JAERI)
Published date:
1 January 1996
NEA/NSC/DOC(2003)3
Reactivity Prediction Calculations for Infinite Arrays of PWR Mox Fuel Pincells
Published date:
17 April 2003
NEA/NSC/DOC(2003)4
Results and Analysis of MOX Fuels Depletion Calculations
Published date:
17 April 2003
NEA/NSC/R(2016)2
Numerical benchmark for the analysis of small-sample reactivity experiments
Published date:
9 June 2016
NEA/NSC/DOC(1993)22
JAERI-M-94-003 Makoto TAKANO (JAERI), January 1994
Published date:
1 January 1993
NEA/NSC/DOC(2002)2
Burn-up Calculations of BWR Fuel Assemblies for Storage and Transport
Published date:
16 January 2002
NEA/NSC/DOC(2000)12
Criticality Calculations of BWR Spent Fuel in Storage and Transport, Hiroshi OKUNO, Yoshitaka NAITO, Yoshihira ANDO
Published date:
30 June 2000
NEA/NSC/DOC(1997)11
Hiroshi OKUNO, Yoshitaka NAITO and Yoshihira ANDO (JAERI)
Published date:
1 January 1997
NEA/NEACRP/L(1991)337
Simple PWR Spent Fuel Cell (Problem Specification), Makoto TAKANO (JAERI), Michaele BRADY (ORNL), 1991
Published date:
1 January 1991
NEA/NSC/DOC(1993)15
Effect of Axial Burnup Profile (Infinite fuel pin array) Makoto Takano (JAERI), Michaele Brady (SNL), Alain Santamarina (CEA), June 1993. See NEA/NSC/DOC(96)1
Published date:
1 January 1993
NEA/NSC/DOC(1992)10
Isotopic Prediction (Problem Specification). Revised, January 1993 Michaele C. Brady<br>See <a href="/html/science/docs/1996/nsc-doc96-06.pdf">NEA/NSC/DOC(96)6</a>.
Published date:
1 January 1992
NEA/NSC/R(2015)6
Nuclide Composition and Neutron Multiplication Factor of a Boiling Water Reactor Spent Fuel Assembly for Burn-up Credit and Criticality Control of Damaged Nuclear Fuel
Published date:
2 October 2015
NEA/NSC/R(2015)1
Impact of Isotopic Inventory Changes due to Control Rod Insertions on Reactivity and the End Effect in PWR UO2 Fuel Assemblies
Published date:
2 June 2015
NEA/NSC/DOC(1998)1
Results - Conceptual PWR Spent Fuel Transportation Cask, A. Nouri
Published date:
1 January 1998
NEA/NSC/DOC(1996)1
JAERI-Research 96-003, M. Takano, H. Okuno, (JAERI), publication date: February 1996
Published date:
1 January 1996
NEA/NSC/DOC(1996)6
Isotopic Prediction: Final Report, M.D. DeHart (ORNL), M.C. Brady (SNL), C.V. Parks (ORNL). Publication date June 1996. ORNL-6901
Published date:
1 January 1996
Published date:
17 January 2023
The 2021 edition can be downloaded online.
Published date:
22 November 2022
Over its 25 years of existence, the working party has contributed many topics and has led advances in criticality safety studies.
Published date:
28 July 2022
WPNCS bi-annual event brought together 80 experts from 17 member countries.
Published date:
7 February 2022
14 -
18 November 2022
NEA, Paris (France)
This training course provides instruction on the use of the KENO-VI Monte Carlo code for criticality safety calculations and the MAVRIC (Monaco with Automated Variance Reduction using Importance Calc...
Published date:
13 September 2022
NEA/CSNI/R(2016)3
Criticality safety is an integral component of ensuring the continued safe operation of current reactor and fuel cycle facilities, as well as addressing new and interesting challenges that are expect...
Published date:
31 August 2016
27 June 2022 -
1 July 2022
OECD headquarters, Paris XVI
Published date:
1 June 2022
NEA/CNRA/R(2019)1
This report describes the regulatory perspectives on safety aspects related to the calculation and justification of neutronic characteristics and criticality safety assessment of advanced sodium fast...
Published date:
1 October 2021
The topical session dealt with experiences from assessments of criticality safety and the application of safeguards in the different member countries of the IGSC.
Published date:
1 January 2017
The ICSBEP Technical Review Group of over 65 international technical experts met remotely for the first time on 19-23 October 2020.
Published date:
4 November 2020
19 -
22 September 2011
Edinburgh, Scotland
The Ninth International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2011) was held on from 19-22 September 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. ICNC 2011 allowed specialists from around the globe to come t...
Published date:
6 March 2020
Published date:
5 August 2020
Criticality is the state of a nuclear reactor when there is a self-sustaining chain reaction of fissionable material. Criticality safety analysis relates to evaluation approaches in data and computat...
Published date:
24 March 2020
A criticality excursion (also referred to as a criticality accident) is the accidental production of a self-sustaining or divergent chain reaction of fissionable material.
Published date:
24 March 2020
Criticality is the state of a nuclear reactor when there is a self-sustaining chain reaction of fissionable material. Criticality experiments are controlled tests using fissile materials, like pluton...
Published date:
24 March 2020
Published date:
30 October 2015
19 -
21 May 2015
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) Working Group on Fuel Cycle Safety (WGFCS) held an international workshop on Operational and Regulatory As...
Published date:
19 May 2015
Published date:
21 February 2012
Published date:
20 December 2006