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.
Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
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.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
College students help develop waste-measuring device at Hanford
A partnership between Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and Washington State University has resulted in the development of a device to measure radioactive and chemical tank waste at the Hanford Site. WRPS is the contractor at Hanford for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.
Tai T. Pham, Mohamed S. El-Genk
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 166 | Number 1 | September 2010 | Pages 58-72
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE09-29TN
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper investigates the interaction of monoenergetic, 100-MeV protons with aluminum, enriched B4C, and C29H28O8 polymer and their effectiveness for shielding silicon-based electronics. Although not representative of an actual space radiation energy spectrum, the 100-MeV protons are suitable to investigate important modes of interaction with potential shielding materials, including the production and attenuation of secondary particles. The calculated shielding effectiveness of these materials is compared with that of the lunar regolith. The components of the total energy deposition in a 1-cm-diam sphere of silicon, representing an electronic device, are calculated as functions of the type and thickness of the shield material. The major contributors to the displacement energy deposition in the silicon sphere are by far the incident protons and the secondary protons and neutrons generated in the spallation reactions of incident protons with the nuclei of the elements in the shield materials. The primary and secondary protons are also the major contributors to the ionizing energy deposition, which is several orders of magnitude higher than the displacement energy deposition; other secondary particles contribute minimally (<5%). While the regolith is an effective shielding material, the C29H28O8 polymer is best for protecting electronics from incident high-energy protons.