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
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2024
Nuclear Technology
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August 2024
Latest News
New laws offer nuclear industry incentives for existing power plant uprates
This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.
Signed into law in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers production tax credits (PTCs) for existing nuclear power plants and either PTCs or investment tax credits (ITCs) for new carbon-free generation. These credits could make power uprates—increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial plant may operate—a much more appealing option for utilities.
O. J. Wallace
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 78 | Number 1 | May 1981 | Pages 78-85
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE81-A19609
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calculations based on the integration of the point kernel over a finite source region are widely used in obtaining gamma-ray fluxes, dose rates, and heating rates. For most cases of practical interest, this integration must be done numerically. The relative merits of the trapezoidal rule, Gauss quadrature, and the semi-Gauss automatic quadrature algorithm of Patterson are discussed as they apply to the integration of the point kernel. The Patterson algorithm is superior to other quadrature algorithms for this application because it allows results to be calculated to a predetermined relative error, wastes no function evaluations, is accurate, and supplies relative error data along with the answer. It is efficient with respect to both engineering and computer time. The implementation of this algorithm for point-kernel integrations is described in detail.