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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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!
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Latest News
Is waste really waste?
Tim Tinsley
I’ve been reflecting on the recent American Nuclear Society Winter Conference and Expo, where I enjoyed the discussion on recycling used nuclear fuel to recover valuable minerals or products for future applications. I have spent more than 30 years focusing on dissolving and separating nuclear material, so it was refreshing to hear the case for new applications being made. However, I feel that these discussions could go further still.
Radiation is energy, something that our society seems to have an endless need for. A nuclear power station produces a lot of radiation that is mostly discarded. But once fuel has been used, it still produces significant levels of radiation and heat energy. The associated storage, processing, and eventual disposal of this used fuel requires careful management and investment to protect systems and people from the radiation. Should we really disregard—and discard—this energy source, along with all the valuable minerals in the used fuel, when we could instead use it to deliver significant value to society?
R. D. M. Garcia
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 177 | Number 1 | May 2014 | Pages 35-51
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE13-45
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The analytical discrete ordinates (ADO) method is used to develop an approximate, but accurate, solution to a one-dimensional model of neutral particle transport in ducts proposed originally by Prinja and Pomraning. The implementation of the ADO method is facilitated by a variable transformation that is used to rewrite the Prinja-Pomraning equation in a form very similar to that of the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook model equation in rarefied gas dynamics. Techniques of linear algebra are used to find an analytical solution for the linear system that has to be solved for the superposition coefficients of the ADO method in the case of a semi-infinite duct. Numerical results for the reflection and transmission probabilities that illustrate the capability of the method are tabulated for semi-infinite and finite ducts of circular cross section and two types of particle incidence: isotropic incidence and incidence described by the Dirac delta distribution. It is concluded that the ADO method can achieve a desired precision in the reflection and transmission probabilities with a much lower quadrature order than previously used numerical implementations of the discrete ordinates method and consequently is much more efficient.