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
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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.
T. W. T. Burnett and T. G. Williamson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 21 | Number 2 | February 1965 | Pages 201-205
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE65-A21044
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The infinite multiplication factor, k∞ is one of the basic parameters of a sub-critical assembly. Usually, these assemblies are designed for maximum k∞ however, it is difficult to conduct laboratory experiments which yield a value of k∞ to reasonable accuracy. Common methods, such as the loading technique and exponential experiment, are of doubtful validity or require apparatus not always available. Pulsing techniques are widely accepted, but are difficult to apply to reflected assemblies. In this work, an alternative approach is used. It is based on the integration of the thermal-neutron flux over the equivalent infinite medium. Use of variations in the method with poisoned assemblies eliminates the need for accurate determinations of the source strength, the absolute thermal-flux calibration, and the epithermal parameters of the medium. The theory is general and can be applied with a minimum of equipment. The results obtained from this method (and its variations) were checked by pulse measurements on the bare assembly and by a four-factor formula calculation. All results agree to within 2%.