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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Take steps on SNF and HLW disposal
Matt Bowen
With a new administration and Congress, it is time once again to ponder what will happen—if anything—on U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste management policy over the next few years. One element of the forthcoming discussion seems clear: The executive and legislative branches are eager to talk about recycling commercial SNF. Whatever the merits of doing so, it does not obviate the need for one or more facilities for disposal of remaining long-lived radionuclides. For that reason, making progress on U.S. disposal capabilities remains urgent, lest the associated radionuclide inventories simply be left for future generations to deal with.
In March, Rick Perry, who was secretary of energy during President Trump’s first administration, observed that during his tenure at the Department of Energy it became clear to him that any plan to move SNF “required some practical consent of the receiving state and local community.”1
F. G. Bischoff, M. L. Yeater, W. E. Moore
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 48 | Number 3 | July 1972 | Pages 266-280
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE48-266
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Monte Carlo computer code, MSC, has been developed which is of general usefulness in analyzing double-differential neutron scattering measurements. This code is equivalent to a three-dimensional solution of the neutron transport equation for finite geometries. It is available for two geometrical configurations (slab geometry and tubular geometry), and is readily adapted to other geometrical configurations. Resolution effects are calculated in detail by including full time dependence in the calculation and considering individually the various factors which contribute to the experimental resolution. MSC uses statistical weights as a means to improve the convergence of the Monte Carlo method by forcing scattering collisions; the statistical estimation technique used allows every collision to contribute to every scattered energy and angular bin. Options have been developed which treat rigorously the coherent and incoherent elastic scattering from polycrystals. Scattered energy and angle are sampled at each Monte Carlo collision by means of a new method which samples alpha and beta from the scattering law. This sampling technique is exact within the framework of numerical integration and interpolation. It permits full kernel calculations, yet requires the storage of only two-dimensional arrays. The use of this code led to changes in procedure in the double-differential neutron scattering cross-section experiments at Rensselaer. Because calculated experimental corrections are strongly model dependent, the data have not been corrected for resolution and multiple scattering effects. Instead, resolution-broadened multiple-scattered theory is compared with uncorrected data. This avoids the pitfall of data “corrections” which may, in fact, be strongly model dependent and bias the final results according to the model assumed for the calculation of the correction. This use of uncorrected data enhances the practical value of the measurements as a model testing device. Use of MSC has made it possible to obtain good scattering results with relatively thick samples for several materials, notably water, polyethylene, and uranium carbide. Some examples are given of the verification of the methods used. Experience gained by the use of MSC is summarized.