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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2025
Latest News
DOE issues new NEPA rule and procedures—and accelerates DOME reactor testing
Meeting a deadline set in President Trump’s May 23 executive order “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy,” the DOE on June 30 updated information on its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rulemaking and implementation procedures and published on its website an interim final rule that rescinds existing regulations alongside new implementing procedures.
J. T. Mihalczo, E. D. Blakeman, G. E. Ragan, R. C. Kryter, H. Seino, R. C. Robinson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 107 | Number 1 | January 1991 | Pages 35-57
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE91-A23779
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of experiments was performed in slab geometry using a mixed aqueous Pu-U nitrate with 173 and 262 g/ℓ of plutonium and uranium, respectively. Both the thickness of the slab for an ∼71-cm fixed height and the height for a 19.05-cm fixed thickness were varied for this slab, which had a 106.7-cm base length. The plutonium contained 91.1 wt% 239Pu while the depleted uranium contained 0.57 wt% 235U. These measurements using the 252Cf-source-driven neutron noise analysis method are interpreted using modified point kinetics to obtain the subcritical neutron multiplication factors. This paper summarizes the data accumulated in the measurements and their interpretation in this first application of the method to slab geometry. The results and conclusions of these experiments are (a) the capability to measure the subcriticality for a multiplying system of slab geometry by the 252Cf-source-driven noise method to a k as low as 0.70 was demonstrated; (b) the reactivities obtained by independent measurements using break-frequency noise analysis agreed with those obtained from the ratio of spectral densities within the experimental uncertainties; (c) the criteria developed in previous experiments for choosing source-detector-system configurations for which the data can be interpreted using modified point kinetics were also satisfactory for this experiment; (d) measurement times for this geometry were not significantly different from those used in cylindrical geometry and were sufficiently short to allow practical measurements; (e) the applicability of the method and understanding of the theory of the measurement method for plutonium solution systems were demonstrated; and (f) calculated neutron multiplication factors agreed with those from experiments within ∼0.02.