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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Proposed FY 2027 DOE, NRC budgets ask for less
The White House is requesting $1.5 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy in the fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, about 9 percent less than the previous year.
The request from the Trump administration is one of several associated with nuclear energy in the proposal, which was released Friday. Congress still must review and vote on the budget.
R. C. Lloyd, R. A. Libby, E. D. Clayton
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 82 | Number 3 | December 1982 | Pages 325-331
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE82-A19393
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experiments were performed with a 122-cm-diam sphere to determine criticality of aqueous solutions of plutonium in a system having low-neutron leakage. The plutonium in the chemical form of Pu(NO3)4 had a 240Pu content of 2.52 wt%. The critical-sphere concentration obtained in this experiment was analyzed along with data from eight additional critical experiments to evaluate the minimum critical concentration for plutonium. The limiting critical concentration was determined to be 7.62 g Pu/ℓ, for Pu(NO3)4 without excess acid and 7.59 g Pu/ℓ for a 239Pu-water mixture. From these data, the Maxwellian-averaged thermal value of the number of fission neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed by 239Pu, eta, was determined to be 2.056 ± 0.037. The value at 2200 m/s is 2.100 ±0.041.