Publications Details
A Perspective on the Interaction Between the NCSD and ANSI/ANS-8 Standards [Slides]
The intent of this paper is to illuminate the reasons behind the culture of standards involvement by the criticality safety community in the NCSD, and specifically highlight those NCSD activities that build/support this culture. Many NCSD members are currently active in ANSI/ANS-8 and other standards and have been for the last half century. This paper was inspired by a request from ANS’s Professional Divisions Committee concerning how the professional divisions could “increase support to Standards development as Subject Matter Experts”. The healthy level of involvement (i.e., culture) by the NCSD membership in standards was noted. A history of the ANSI/ANS-8 series standards is provided, with roots going back to 1955. The need became apparent during a cluster of nuclear criticality accidents that occurred between 1958-1962. The first NCS related standard was the American Standard N6.1-1964, the parent of ANSI/ANS-8.1, which was prepared in 1958 and adopted in 1964. Thus, the involvement in standards by the NCS community goes back more than 50 years. The NCSD continues to help foster a culture of standards use and development. However, the support provided by the NCSD is frequently not recognized, and standards activities are often viewed as separate from the NCSD. This paper highlights the interaction between the NCSD and the ANSI/ANS-8 standards activities as well as the benefit of this support.