IAEA Safety Standards Safety through international standards for protecting people and the environment “Governments, regulatory bodies and operators everywhere must ensure that nuclear material and radiation sources are used Standards Series No. SSG-27 Safety IAEA beneficially, safely and ethically. The IAEA safety standards are Criticality Safety in the designed to facilitate this, and I encourage all Member States to make use of them.” Handling of Yukiya Amano Director General Fissile Material Specific Safety Guide No. SSG-27 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 978–92 –0–140010–9 ISSN 1020–525X 13-36371_PUB1594_cover.indd 1-3 2014-05-09 07:41:01 RELATED PUBLICATIONS IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS AND RELATED PUBLICATIONS FUNDAMENTAL SAFETY PRINCIPLES IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1 IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS STI/PUB/1273 (37 pp.; 2006) Under the terms of Article III of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to establish or adopt ISBN 92–0–110706–4 Price: €25.00 standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property, and to provide for the application of these standards. GOVERNMENTAL, LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK The publications by means of which the IAEA establishes standards are issued in the FOR SAFETY IAEA Safety Standards Series. This series covers nuclear safety, radiation safety, transport IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 1 safety and waste safety. The publication categories in the series are Safety Fundamentals, STI/PUB/1465 (63 pp.; 2010) Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. ISBN 978–92–0–106410–3 Price: €45.00 Information on the IAEA’s safety standards programme is available on the IAEA Internet THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES site IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GS-R-3 http://www-ns.iaea.org/standards/ STI/PUB/1252 (39 pp.; 2006) The site provides the texts in English of published and draft safety standards. The texts ISBN 92–0–106506–X Price: €25.00 of safety standards issued in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish, the IAEA Safety Glossary and a status report for safety standards under development are also available. For RADIATION PROTECTION AND SAFETY OF RADIATION SOURCES: further information, please contact the IAEA at: Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, INTERNATIONAL BASIC SAFETY STANDARDS: INTERIM EDITION 1400 Vienna, Austria. IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 3 (Interim) All users of IAEA safety standards are invited to inform the IAEA of experience in their STI/PUB/1531 (142 pp.; 2011) use (e.g. as a basis for national regulations, for safety reviews and for training courses) for the ISBN 978–92–0–120910–8 Price: €65.00 purpose of ensuring that they continue to meet users’ needs. Information may be provided via the IAEA Internet site or by post, as above, or by email to Offi [email protected]. SAFETY ASSESSMENT FOR FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 4 STI/PUB/1375 (56 pp.; 2009) RELATED PUBLICATIONS ISBN 978–92–0–112808–9 Price: €48.00 The IAEA provides for the application of the standards and, under the terms of Articles III and VIII.C of its Statute, makes available and fosters the exchange of information relating PREDISPOSAL MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE to peaceful nuclear activities and serves as an intermediary among its Member States for this IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 5 purpose. STI/PUB/1368 (38 pp.; 2009) Reports on safety in nuclear activities are issued as Safety Reports, which provide ISBN 978–92–0–111508–9 Price: €45.00 practical examples and detailed methods that can be used in support of the safety standards. DECOMMISSIONING OF FACILITIES USING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL Other safety related IAEA publications are issued as Emergency Preparedness and Response publications, Radiological Assessment Reports, the International Nuclear Safety IAEA Safety Standards Series No. WS-R-5 Group’s INSAG Reports, Technical Reports and TECDOCs. The IAEA also issues reports STI/PUB/1274 (25 pp.; 2006) on radiological accidents, training manuals and practical manuals, and other special safety ISBN 92–0–110906–7 Price: €25.00 related publications. REGULATIONS FOR THE SAFE TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE Security related publications are issued in the IAEA Nuclear Security Series. MATERIAL, 2012 EDITION The IAEA Nuclear Energy Series comprises informational publications to encourage IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSR-6 and assist research on, and the development and practical application of, nuclear energy for STI/PUB/1570 (168 pp.; 2012) peaceful purposes. It includes reports and guides on the status of and advances in technology, ISBN 978–92–0–133310–0 Price: €44.00 and on experience, good practices and practical examples in the areas of nuclear power, the nuclear fuel cycle, radioactive waste management and decommissioning. PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE FOR A NUCLEAR OR RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GS-R-2 STI/PUB/1133 (72 pp.; 2002) ISBN 92–0–116702–4 Price: €20.50 www.iaea.org/books 13-36371_PUB1594_cover.indd 4-6 2014-05-09 07:41:01 CRITICALITY SAFETY IN THE HANDLING OF FISSILE MATERIAL The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GHANA PAKISTAN ALBANIA GREECE PALAU ALGERIA GUATEMALA PANAMA ANGOLA HAITI PAPUA NEW GUINEA ARGENTINA HOLY SEE PARAGUAY ARMENIA HONDURAS PERU AUSTRALIA HUNGARY PHILIPPINES AUSTRIA ICELAND POLAND AZERBAIJAN INDIA PORTUGAL BAHAMAS INDONESIA QATAR BAHRAIN IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BANGLADESH IRAQ ROMANIA BELARUS IRELAND RUSSIAN FEDERATION BELGIUM ISRAEL RWANDA BELIZE ITALY SAN MARINO BENIN JAMAICA SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA JAPAN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JORDAN SENEGAL BOTSWANA KAZAKHSTAN SERBIA BRAZIL KENYA SEYCHELLES BRUNEI DARUSSALAM KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE BULGARIA KUWAIT SINGAPORE BURKINA FASO KYRGYZSTAN SLOVAKIA BURUNDI LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC SLOVENIA CAMBODIA REPUBLIC SOUTH AFRICA CAMEROON LATVIA SPAIN CANADA LEBANON SRI LANKA CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SUDAN REPUBLIC LIBERIA SWAZILAND CHAD LIBYA SWEDEN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND CHINA LITHUANIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CONGO MADAGASCAR THAILAND COSTA RICA MALAWI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALAYSIA REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CROATIA MALI TOGO CUBA MALTA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS TUNISIA CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA TURKEY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UGANDA OF THE CONGO MEXICO UKRAINE DENMARK MONACO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DOMINICA MONGOLIA UNITED KINGDOM OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONTENEGRO ECUADOR MOROCCO GREAT BRITAIN AND EGYPT MOZAMBIQUE NORTHERN IRELAND EL SALVADOR MYANMAR UNITED REPUBLIC ERITREA NAMIBIA OF TANZANIA ESTONIA NEPAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ETHIOPIA NETHERLANDS URUGUAY FIJI NEW ZEALAND UZBEKISTAN FINLAND NICARAGUA VENEZUELA FRANCE NIGER VIET NAM GABON NIGERIA YEMEN GEORGIA NORWAY ZAMBIA GERMANY OMAN ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS SERIES No. SSG-27 CRITICALITY SAFETY IN THE HANDLING OF FISSILE MATERIAL SPECIFIC SAFETY GUIDE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2014 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books © IAEA, 2014 Printed by the IAEA in Austria May 2014 STI/PUB/1594 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Criticality safety in the handling of fissile material : specific safety guide. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2014. p. ; 24 cm. — (IAEA safety standards series, ISSN 1020–525X ; no. SSG-27) STI/PUB/1594 ISBN 978–92–0–140010–9 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Criticality (Nuclear engineering). 2. Radioactive substances — Safety measures. 3. Nuclear facilities — Safety measures. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series. IAEAL 13–00846 COPYRIGHT NOTICE FOREWORD All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of by Yukiya Amano the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised Director General in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual The IAEA’s Statute authorizes the Agency to “establish or adopt… Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications property” — standards that