International standards for nuclear criticality safety

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an independent, non-governmental international organization of member national standards bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges. Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) represents a global challenge, with a well-known documented history of criticality accidents with severe consequences. In recognition of this, NCS has a dedicated working group within the ISO framework: Technical Committee 85 (Nuclear Energy), Subcommittee 5 (Nuclear Fuel Technology), Working Group 8: "Nuclear Criticality Safety" (ISO/TC85/SC5/WG8). This paper presents an overview of how ISO/TC85/SC5/WG8 operates, what standards are available, and planned future work. In particular, the paper addresses the ISO/TC85/SC5/WG8 road map and the premise of the umbrella ISO 1709 standard. (author)