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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
G7 pledges support for nuclear at Italy meeting
The Group of Seven (G7) recommitted its support for nuclear energy in the countries that opt to use it at a Ministerial Meeting on Climate in Italy last month.
In a statement following the April meeting, the group committed to support multilateral efforts to strengthen the resilience of nuclear supply chains, referencing the goal set by 25 countries during last year’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai to triple global nuclear generating capacity by 2050.
Fawaz Ali, Ghaouti Bentoumi, Liqian Li, Ronald B. Rogge
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 9 | September 2023 | Pages 1252-1267
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2202793
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The low rate at which some fissile isotopes, such as 235U, 233U, and 239Pu, undergo spontaneous fission leads to a weak signal, resulting in a high-uncertainty in applying passive neutron counting techniques. Stimulating fission through active neutron interrogation can overcome this issue. At Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, a 252Cf and a deuterium-deuterium neutron source are available. In this study, a neutron counting system was designed to perform passive measurements and active neutron interrogation for a search of special nuclear material. The detection system consists of a cylindrical cavity surrounded by a polyethylene moderator with 3He detectors interspersed throughout. When used for passive measurements, the sample is placed in the cylindrical cavity, whereas in active interrogation mode, the 252Cf neutron source and the sample are placed in close proximity to each other in the cylindrical cavity. Measurements that actively interrogated samples, notably containing (among other isotopes) either 235U or 239Pu whose mass was on the order of fractions of a gram, carried out using the 252Cf neutron source found that the average delayed neutron count rate was on the same order of magnitude as those obtained from passive measurements using several kilograms of natural uranium. The Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 version 2.0 radiation transport code was used to simulate the aforementioned active interrogations and to inform the experimental results. Results showed that, due to the close proximity of the polyethylene moderator to the 252Cf source, the neutron energy spectrum traversing the fissile sample has a significant thermal component that maximizes the fission reaction rate in the interrogated fissile samples, thereby allowing for successful measurements.