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.
Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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?
Gary L. Catchen, Amos Notea, Brian C. Campbell
Nuclear Technology | Volume 67 | Number 3 | December 1984 | Pages 463-472
Technical Paper | Analyse | doi.org/10.13182/NT84-A33503
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A highly collimated mobile gamma-ray spectrometer constructed by EG&G Idaho has been calibrated for full-energy peak efficiency. This spectrometer contains a high resolution intrinsic germanium detector, and it is designed for making activity measurements inside reactor containment buildings in high radiation fields. Peak efficiencies were determined for point sources positioned on and off the detector-collimator axis over an energy range from 80 to 2800 keV. The off-axis distributions were integrated to give the isotropic disk source efficiencies. These results were compared to those obtained from directly measuring a 24Na-doped aluminum foil “disk.” Theoretical disk source efficiencies were calculated using the point kernel approach. These results were normalized to the on-axis point source efficiencies. The procedure is self-consistent but it requires more detailed measurements in the future in order to provide accurate results. Once the measurements are made, however, the spectrometer system can then be used to accurately assay arbitrary distributions of surface activities. The method is also well suited for use in collimator design because leakage effects can be directly calculated.
