Proposed ANSI/ANS-8.3 revisions

'Criticality Accident Alarm System' American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS)-8.3-1986, is the key U.S. standard for instrument systems designed to detect and notify at risk personnel in the event of a nuclear criticality accident. The standard exists because accidents can occur in spite of best efforts to prevent them and because an adequate detection and alarm system can be helpful in reducing personnel exposures in the event of an accident. ANSI/ANS-8.3-1986 must be reaffirmed, revised, or withdrawn by the end of the 1996 calendar year. With consent of the ANS-8 subcommittee and N-16 consensus committee chairs, working group ANS-8.3 drafted a revision incorporating changes based on evolving definitions of safety and credible accidents, an occasional need for supplementary equipment, technological advances in equipment and computational codes, published clarifications, and consistency with a related international standard, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7753, 'Nuclear Energy - Performance and Testing Requirements for Criticality Detection and Alarm Systems.' The ANS-8.3 working group will provide a copy of the draft revision for review during the 1996 poster session for nuclear criticality safety standards