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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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.
Keiichi Saito
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 48 | Number 4 | August 1972 | Pages 467-474
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE72-A22514
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Lehto and Carpenter performed a set of experiments concerning the temperature and the gamma-ray fluctuations in a relatively low power reactor with high fission product inventories. The results are uniformly and quantitatively analyzed by applying the theoretical approach previously developed by the present author. The new features of the present consideration are the following two points: (a) incorporation of the external noise source in the previous theory which includes only the inherent noise source theoretically determined with the use of the first-order linearized Markoffian model of the reactor noise phenomenon; (b) analysis of the cross power spectral density (CPSD) between the two state quantities characterizing the core performances. The first point gives a successful interpretation of most of the experimental results in spite of adopting a simple analytical model. The newly extended framework of the theory can include also a reactivity transfer-function analysis with the use of a proper driving function. The phase of the CPSD between the power and the temperature is calculated on a one-space-point, a one-delayed-group, and a one- or two-feedback-loop reactor model. The results suggest that the experimental determination of the phase will provide both a check point for the theoretical model of the dynamical behaviors of at-power reactors and some bits of information on the feedback parameters.