Process / pipelineNuclear safety and hazard control

Criticality Safety Analysis

Criticality safety analysis is a systematic evaluation of fissile material systems to ensure nuclear chain reactions remain controlled, originating from Hahn and Strassmann's 1938 discovery of nuclear fission. It determines safe limits on fissile mass, concentration, geometry, and spacing using neutron transport calculations and experimental validation to prevent uncontrolled nuclear excursions in storage, processing, and transportation.

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Sources

  1. American National Standards Institute (2019). Nuclear Criticality Safety in Operations with Fissionable Material Outside Reactors. ANSI/ANS-8.1-19.40. link
  2. Paxton, H. C., & Pruvost, N. L. (1990). Critical Dimensions of Systems Containing U-235, Pu-239, and U-233. LA-10860-MS, Los Alamos National Laboratory. link

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Referenced by

ScholarGateCriticality Safety Analysis (Criticality Safety Analysis and Chain Reaction Control). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/nuclear-physics/criticality-safety-analysis