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Division Spotlight
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.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
January 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Reboot: Nuclear needs a success . . . anywhere
The media have gleefully resurrected the language of a past nuclear renaissance. Beyond the hype and PR, many people in the nuclear community are taking a more measured view of conditions that could lead to new construction: data center demand, the proliferation of new reactor designs and start-ups, and the sudden ascendance of nuclear energy as the power source everyone wants—or wants to talk about.
Once built, large nuclear reactors can provide clean power for at least 80 years—outlasting 10 to 20 presidential administrations. Smaller reactors can provide heat and power outputs tailored to an end user’s needs. With all the new attention, are we any closer to getting past persistent supply chain and workforce issues and building these new plants? And what will the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president mean for nuclear?
As usual, there are more questions than answers, and most come down to money. Several developers are engaging with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or have already applied for a license, certification, or permit. But designs without paying customers won’t get built. So where are the customers, and what will it take for them to commit?
K. L. Merkle
Nuclear Technology | Volume 22 | Number 1 | April 1974 | Pages 66-78
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor Materials / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A16275
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Using transmission electron microscopy, 14-MeV damage has been investigated in gold. The sites of energetic displacement cascades are visible because of the presence of vacancy clusters formed by the collapse or rearrangement of vacancies within the depleted zones. A strong tendency toward subcascade formation has been found in the 14-MeV neutron-induced cascades. On the average, 1.8 clusters are formed per cascade. Individual cascades with as many as six subcascades have been found. The number densities of clusters and cascades are proportional to the fluence. The cross section for the formation of visible cascades is σc = 3.3 × 10-24 cm2. It can be shown that recoils from elastic neutron-scattering events can account for <20% of the visible cascades. The cross section corresponding to the balance of the observed cascades is, within experimental error, equal to the nonelastic neutron-scattering cross section. This indicates that all nonelastic scattering events lead to the formation of a visible cascade. We find quantitative agreement with what is expected from heavy-ion bombardments regarding the cross sections involved; however, estimates of the average cascade energy in the 14-MeV neutron bombardments are somewhat higher than expected.
