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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Dec 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
January 2026
Nuclear Technology
December 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
Christmas Light
’Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
No electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged by the chimney with care
With the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
K. W. Burn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 125 | Number 2 | February 1997 | Pages 128-170
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE97-A24262
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A weight-dependent capability is inserted into the direct statistical approach (DSA) to optimize splitting and Russian roulette (RR) parameters in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations. In the new model, splitting or RR is carried out on a progenitor arriving at a surface in such a way that the weight of the progeny is fixed (for the particular surface). Thus, the model is named the DSA weight tine model. In the presence of weight-dependent games, all components of the second moment, and the time, are not separable. In the absence of weight-dependent games, the component of the second moment describing the weight-dependent splitting or RR is still not separable. Two approximations are examined to render this component separable under these circumstances. One of these approximations, named the noninteger approximation, looks promising. The new DSA model with the noninteger approximation is tested on four sample problems. Comparisons with the previous weight-independent DSA model and with the MCNP (version 4a) weight window generator are made.