A New INMM Accredited Standards Committee N15 Standard for Nondestructive Assay Measurements of Nuclear Material Holdup

A new American National Standard, ANSI N15.56-2014 for Methods of Nuclear Material Control - Nondestructive Assay Program - Nondestructive Assay Measurements of Nuclear Material Holdup: General Provisions, has been developed. This standard has been developed under the auspices of the INMM-sponsored Accredited Standards Committee N15 on Methods of Nuclear Material Control. This standard addresses topics concerning the generation and reporting of Nondestructive Assay (NDA) measurements of nuclear material holdup deposits and is applicable to both national defense facilities and commercial nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The standard writing group included representatives of U.S. federal and commercial organizations, including a liaison member of the American Nuclear Society and subject matter experts of the IAEA. The end users of this standard include personnel in nuclear material accounting and safeguards, nuclear criticality safety, waste management, decontamination and decommissioning, radiological protection, and facility licensing activities. The standard provides guidance and specifies general provisions concerning the generation and reporting of NDA measurements of holdup accumulations. It provides guidance regarding method selection and measurement procedures as well as defining data quality objectives for in situ holdup measurements. It also specifies recordkeeping requirements and considerations during the calculation and reporting of measurement results and measurement uncertainties. The standard emphasizes the importance of clear and open communication with the end user of the measurement results. The standard does not discuss the technical aspects of performing holdup measurements.