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
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
How to talk about nuclear
In your career as a professional in the nuclear community, chances are you will, at some point, be asked (or volunteer) to talk to at least one layperson about the technology you know and love. You might even be asked to present to a whole group of nonnuclear folks, perhaps as a pitch to some company tangential to your company’s business. So, without further ado, let me give you some pointers on the best way to approach this important and surprisingly complicated task.
Melvin Reier
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 47 | Number 4 | April 1972 | Pages 409-414
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE72-A22432
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurements have been made of the efficiency in detecting gamma rays of a 0.3-mm-, 3-mm-, and 5-mm-thick silicon detector covered with different absorbers. Calibrated sources over the range from 279 keV to 2.75 MeV were used. The need for the absorbers to obtain meaningful results and their contribution to the response of the detectors at electron biases from 50 to 200 keV are discussed in detail. It is shown that the results are virtually independent of the atomic number of the absorber. In addition, the role of the absorber in increasing the efficiency with increasing photon energy for low bias settings is demonstrated for the 0.3-mm crystal. Qualitative explanations are given for the shapes of all curves of efficiency versus energy at each bias.