Criticality Awareness & Training Resources

Various criticality training resources are available externally. A selection of these are included below. WPC take no responsibility for their content.

US-DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program: Training & Education

https://ncsp.llnl.gov/training-education

Includes details of:

1. Hands-on experimental criticality safety training courses in the US

2. A series of Heritage Videos giving information including the development of criticality safety methods and data, criticality experiments and criticality accidents

3. A series of 16 training modules provided to assist site training organizations in developing a comprehensive criticality safety training program. The material in these modules is suitable for introductory level training of criticality safety personnel who either do not have a nuclear engineering background or who need a basic level refresher course. These training materials have been developed for the criticality safety user community.

YouTube Videos

University of New Mexico Nuclear Criticality Engineering Training Videos

The University of New Mexico (UNM) has created a series of training videos.

1. NE499/515 - Lecture 1: Introduction to Nuclear Criticality Safety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE0tqYJuVzg&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3

2. NE499/515 - Lecture 2: Health Effects of Radiation and the "Demon Core" Accidents (CA-1 and CA-2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd7j5pEqcAU&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=2

3. NE499/515 - Lecture 3: The Boltzmann Transport Equation and the Mayak 1958 Accident (CA-3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMsXUAwtimw&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=3

4. NE499/515 - Lecture 4: ANSI/ANS Standards in Criticality Safety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uut2Jpos00M&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=4

5. NE499/515 - Lecture 5: Limits and Controls and the Mayak 1953 Accident (CA-4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUxk7b5EYGI&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=5

6. NE499/515 - Lecture 6: The MAGIC MERV Criticality Safety Controls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWtBO3WL7gI&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=6

7. NE499/515 - Lecture 7: Process Analysis and the Tomsk 1978 Criticality Accident (CA-5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdCzRMhnJIM&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=7

8. NE499/515 - Lecture 8: Nuclear Reactor Kinetics and the Tokai-Mura Criticality Accident (CA-6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRUad803xgI&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=8

9. NE499/515 - Lecture 9: Criticality Accident Alarm Systems and the Y-12 1958 Accident (CA-7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPL0G56rtZ0&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=9

10. NE499/515 - Lecture 10: Safety Culture and the Boeing 737 MAX Airplane Crashes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJmXBeXs2DI&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=10

11. NE499/515 - Lecture 11: Interactions with Operations and the LASL 1958 Accident (CA-8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCIyAJ1zS-E&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=11

12. NE499/515 - Lecture 12: Postings, Procedures, and the Wood River Junction Accident (CA-9) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIwWoiw_EJ0&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=12

13. NE499/515 - Lecture 13: Nuclear Data and Integral Benchmark Experiments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQMRvVzpRs0&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=13

14. NE499/515 - Lecture 14: Introduction to Code Validation and Upper Subcritical Limits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D_WwhCSuUs&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=14

15. NE499/515 - Lecture 15: A Statistics Review for Upper Subcritical Limit Estimates https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBSVa4dnXe0&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=15

16. NE499/515 - Lecture 16: Trending Analysis and Upper Subcritical Limits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp_ylGd4tqk&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=16

17. NE499/515 - Lecture 17: Sensitivity Analysis in Nuclear Criticality Safety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WSjcdPbYI4&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=17

18. NE499/515 - Lecture 18: Benchmark Similarity Coefficients and the TSUNAMI-IP Code https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFBm2mcI83A&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=18

19. NE499/515 - Lecture 19: The Whisper Extreme Value Theory Method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIdaQkI272c&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=19

20. NE499/515 - Lecture 20: The TSURFER Data Assimilation/Data Adjustment Method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0ET3R-j_OU&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=20

21. NE499/515 - Lecture 21: Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AloDu84f4s&list=PLZWoB96AIfWHMcJOlCvZLcYqO_5X9mqp3&index=21

Plainly Difficult Criticality Accident Videos

Plainly Difficult have created a series of videos covering 'general interest history, focusing on disasters, scientific discovery and transportation', including some related to criticality accidents. These are a little irreverent. A full list can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/PlainlyDifficult/videos

These include:

1. A Brief History of The Wood River Junction Criticality (1964) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuHD6VhrK5U

2. A Brief History of The Demon Core https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE8FnsnWz48&t=6s

3. A Brief History of The Y-12 Criticality Incident https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaOc8FhMdWc&t=2s

4. A Brief History of The Tokaimura Criticality Incident (1999) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acpz3CG1xi4&t=6s

5. A Brief History of the Sarov Criticality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5HX_ALalnk

6. A Brief History of the Cecil Kelley Nuclear Accident (1958) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jAqspBXG6E&list=PLeJkgZkJSc0RSKB3WOv3p32boKg4gHlH-&index=6

Miscellaneous videos

1. Criticality 1969 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1ckdTlgvlU

   • Nuclear criticality training film, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, 1969