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The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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
EPA issues final rule regulating “forever chemicals”
The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will issue a rule aimed at limiting public exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The final rule will designate two widely used PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund.
According to the EPA, both PFOA and PFOS meet the statutory criteria for designation as hazardous substances.
Edward J. Waller
Nuclear Technology | Volume 175 | Number 1 | July 2011 | Pages 89-92
Technical Note | Special Issue on the 16th Biennial Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division / Radiation Measurements and General Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A12275
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent nuclear weapons testing in the limit of low-yield detonations has underscored the need to ensure that radiation detection and monitoring equipment can adequately respond to these events. Testing and validating equipment in appropriate reference fields have become difficult since the closing of the NATO primary fission spectra reference at the Aberdeen Proving Ground Fast Burst Reactor facility post-9/11. A simple and low-cost device was designed to perform testing of commercial off-the-shelf neutron detection equipment to the expected spectral shape from a low-yield nuclear weapon. By enclosing an 241AmBe (,n) neutron source within a heavy water-moderated sphere, the general shape of a 1-kiloton standard fission weapon was generated at 1 m, valid between 100 and 2000 keV. The 1-m dose rate expected from this configuration is [approximately]2.16 × 10-10 Svh-1Bq-1 , which is less than one-half of the unshielded dose rate.