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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
Mark S. Jarzemba, James Weldy, English Pearcy, Jim Prikryl, David Pickett
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 133 | Number 3 | November 1999 | Pages 335-341
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2093
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurements are presented of gold concentration in rock/soil samples by delayed neutron activation analysis using a device and method that are potentially field portable. The device consists of a polyethylene moderator and 252Cf as the source of neutrons for activating the samples and a high-purity germanium detector to measure the 412-keV gamma-ray emissions from activated gold. This information is used to extract the gold concentration in the sample. Two types of samples were investigated: (a) pure SiO2 doped with a known amount of gold chloride and (b) U.S. Geological Survey standards. The former types were used to evaluate optimum device performance and to calibrate the device and method. The latter types were used to show typical system performance for the intended application (field exploration for gold deposits). It was found that the device was capable of determining gold concentrations to ~10 ppb with a turnaround time (the sum of irradiation, decay, and counting times) of ~10 days. For samples where the gold concentration was much higher (i.e., gold ore), turnaround times are ~2 days and could be shortened further by sacrificing accuracy (e.g., lessening irradiation, decay, and counting times) or by augmenting source strength.
