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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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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.
B. Laponche, M. Brunet, Y. Bouedo
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 48 | Number 3 | July 1972 | Pages 305-318
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE72-A22488
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method is described for the analysis of oscillation measurements in critical assemblies where fissions are produced predominantly by thermal neutrons. The oscillation method developed in the CEA deals with the measurement of two signals: the “global” signal, which gives a representation of the sample reactivity, and the “local” signal, which gives the variation of the neutron density at the vicinity of the sample. Using a double calibration of the reactor by samples of enriched or depleted uranium and boronated uranium, it is possible to obtain independently the absorption and production reaction rates for plutonium in each sample, as a function of 235U reaction rates. The equivalent sample method is a more recent development and is based on the fact that a given perturbation of the absorption cross section, with any law of variation with energy in the thermal region, can be replaced by an absorption of well-known variation with energy which has the same effect on the neutronic density in the reactor beyond a small distance where spectrum effects are still appreciable. A series of measurements of uranium/plutonium rods performed in the CESAR reactor, from 20 to 400°C, is analyzed, and modifications of the absorption and fission cross sections of plutonium isotopes are proposed.