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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
L. Eric Smith, Naeem M. Abdurrahman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 140 | Number 3 | December 2002 | Pages 328-349
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3343
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Monte Carlo study of the neutron slowing-down spectrometry technique for measuring fissile isotopic content in irradiated fuel has been completed. The neutron spectrometer system is characterized in terms of design, slowing-down time relation, isotopic response functions, and assay signals. The nonlinear effect of interrogating neutron self-shielding for a high fissile content fuel is compared to the same parameter for a low fissile content fuel. Simulated assays of 23 different fuel assemblies with a broad range of total fissile mass content (1.3 to 83 wt%) and fissile isotopic ratios are performed and analyzed using two different methods: a linear system model using a least-squares regression analysis and a radial basis neural network. Mean errors using the linear system model for the 23 different fuel types were approximately 20% for 235U and 43% for total plutonium. The radial basis neural network assay signal solutions showed promising results, considerably better than the linear model: 4.9% for 235U, 5.4% for total plutonium, and 0.5% for total fissile content.