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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
S. Prasad, S. D. Clarke, S. A. Pozzi, E. W. Larsen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 172 | Number 1 | September 2012 | Pages 78-86
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE11-60
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A response matrix method (RMM) is applied to Monte Carlo simulations to efficiently compute neutron pulse height distributions (PHDs) in organic scintillation detectors. The PHD calculations and their associated uncertainty are compared for a polyethylene-shielded and lead-shielded 252Cf source for three different techniques: fully analog MCNPX-PoliMi, the RMM, and the RMM with source biasing. The RMM with source biasing reduces computation time or improves the figure of merit on average by a factor of 600 for polyethylene shielding and a factor of 300 for lead shielding (when compared to the fully analog calculation). The simulated neutron PHDs show good agreement with the laboratory measurements, thereby validating the RMM.
