ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Prepare for the 2025 Nuclear PE Exam with ANS guides
The next opportunity to earn professional engineer (PE) licensure in nuclear engineering is this fall, and now is the time to sign up and begin studying with the help of materials like the online module program offered by the American Nuclear Society.
W. W. Clendenin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 36 | Number 1 | April 1969 | Pages 1-14
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE69-A18852
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The neutron diffusion length of graphite with an added 1/v absorber has been calculated for temperatures from 200 to 2000°K. At each temperature, the entire range of absorption for which a diffusion length exists has been examined. The largest such range, which occurs for 2000°K, extends from the absorption of pure graphite to a value corresponding to 7.3 b at 0.0253 eV. For all values of temperature and absorption, the diffusion length, L, in centimeters is given within 1% by where T is the absolute temperature and σ′ (b) is the absorption cross section at 0.0253 eV. The temperature-dependent functions α(T) and β(T) are given in Figs. 1 and 2. Very good agreement exists between the values implied by this formula and recent measurements. Each calculated value of L has been obtained as an eigenvalue of a P11 approximation to the transport equation. The neutron energy spectrum is obtained accurately as the eigenfunction in the calculation. This spectrum shows the characteristic discontinuity at the Bragg limit, previously known for beryllium, which varies in magnitude with the absorption. There is also a marked hardening of the spectrum with increasing absorption, which significantly affects the value of the diffusion length.