What is ISO 23133 about?
ISO 23133 is a part of European standard which specifies minimum nuclear criticality safety training requirements for operation staff, operation supervisors, and management.
ISO 23133 applies to areas, processes or facilities containing quantities of fissile material for which nuclear criticality safety assessment is required.
Note 1: ISO 23133 is not applicable to the transport of fissile materials outside the boundaries of nuclear establishments.
Who is ISO 23133 for?
ISO 23133 on nuclear criticality safety is relevant to:
- Manufactures and suppliers of nuclear components
- Nuclear safety engineers
- Nuclear safety operation staff, supervisors and management personnel
Why should you use ISO 23133?
Experience of criticality accidents and evidence of operations history worldwide has indicated that human errors on different levels (management, operations staff, and/or operations supervisors), through lack of understanding or ignorance of nuclear criticality safety, have contributed to accidents.
In order to maintain nuclear criticality safety for facilities handling and processing fissile material it is necessary to ensure the operations staff, operations supervisors, and management are suitably trained in nuclear criticality safety. ISO 23133 helps ensure minimum nuclear criticality safety by providing requirements for operations staff, operations supervisors, and management.
This training is distinct from that of the training necessary for nuclear criticality safety staff in that it is tailored to suit the needs of maintaining nuclear criticality safety for operations. ISO 23133 sets out standards for achieving and maintaining an adequate level of understanding and knowledge in order to operate nuclear facilities safely with respect to nuclear criticality safety.
ISO 23133 covers high-level training for maintaining nuclear criticality safety. This includes preparedness for and response to a potential criticality accident.
ISO 23133 supports integrating specific training provisions on emergency preparedness and response, when relevant, within the training program for operations staff, operations supervisors, and management.