The NEA Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) convened on 30 January 2026 for its 34th meeting to discuss the ongoing and future activities. The event gathered more than 35 experts and 14 countries, including professionals from academia, industry, research institutions and nuclear safety authorities.
Participants highlighted several key initiatives:
- nuclear data uncertainty propagation for irradiated fuel inventory calculations;
- computational spent nuclear fuel decay heat;
- experimental coverage and error recovery;
- development of an international criticality safety exercise; and
- updated publication of a handbook of critical and possibly subcritical values.
The meeting also featured updates from technical review groups, including the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project Technical Review Group (ICSBEPTRG) and the Spent Fuel Composition Technical Review Group (SFCOMPOTRG).
The next series of meetings will take place in July 2026.
With a diverse range of topics covered, the meeting facilitated productive discussions and provided a platform for experts to exchange insights on criticality safety challenges and advancements.
For more information about the working party’s activities, visit the WPNCS information page.
