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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.
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June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Excelsior University student section awarded community education grant
The American Nuclear Society Student Section at Excelsior University in Albany, N.Y., was awarded a $5,000 grant from the ANS Student Section Strategic Fund initiative for its program, Empowering Tomorrow’s Nuclear Innovators: A Collaborative Approach to Nuclear Technology Education and Awareness.
Z. D. Whetstone, K. J. Kearfott
Nuclear Technology | Volume 176 | Number 3 | December 2011 | Pages 395-413
Technical Paper | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-118
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This research was conducted to determine the optimal way to shield a compact, isotropic neutron source into a beam for active interrogation neutron systems. To define the restricted emission angle and to protect nearby personnel when stand-off distances are limited, shielding materials were added around the source. Because of limited space in many locations where active neutron interrogation is employed, a compact yet effective design was desired. Using the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code, several shielding geometries were modeled. Materials investigated were polyethylene, polyethylene enriched with 10B, water, bismuth, steel, nickel, INCONEL® alloy 600, tungsten, lead, and depleted uranium. Various simulations were run testing the individual materials and combinations of them. It was found that at a stand-off distance of 1.5 m from the source, the most effective shielding configuration is a combination of several layers of polyethylene and steel. Without any shielding, the dose is 3.71 × 10-15 Sv/source particle. With a shielding consisting of multiple layers of steel totaling 30 cm thickness interspersed with several layers of polyethylene totaling 20 cm thickness, the dose drops to 3.68 × 10-17 Sv/emitted neutron at radians opposite the shield opening. The layered shielding approach is more effective at reducing dose equivalent and neutron fluence than shields made out of single continuous layers of the same material and thicknesses. Adding boron to the polyethylene and substituting tungsten for steel would make the shielding more effective but would add mass and cost.