This International Standard specifies performance and testing requirements for criticality detection and alarm systems; it is applicable to all operations with plutonium, uranium 233, uranium enriched in the 235 isotope, and other fissionable materials in which inadvertent criticality may occur and cause the exposure of personnel to unacceptable amounts of radia-tion. This International Standard does not require separate ad-ditional instrumentation when the operating instrumentation of facilities, such as nuclear reactors or critical experiments, meets the requirements of this International Standard.
This International Standard does not include details of administrative steps, which are considered to be managerial prerogatives, or specific design and description of instrumentation. Details of nuclear accident dosimetry, personnel exposure evaluations and detectors for post-accident diagnosis are not within the scope of this International Standard.
A standard which provides guidance on detailed characteristics of instrumentation to be used in criticality alarm systems is cur-rently being drawn up by the IEC.
This International Standard is principally concerned with gamma-radiation rate-sensing systems. Specific detection criteria can be met with integrating systems or with systems detecting neutron or gamma radiation, and analogous con-siderations apply.