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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
R. C. Lloyd, E. D. Clayton
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 62 | Number 4 | April 1977 | Pages 726-735
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE77-A15213
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Knowledge of the effects of neutron absorbers on the criticality of uranium-plutonium systems is necessary to better establish criticality safety programs. These data are needed in setting criticality safety specifications for storage, processing, and shipping of fissile materials where it is desired to handle quantities with safety and efficiency. These data are also needed for validating calculational techniques and cross-section sets. Aqueous solutions of the nitrates of uranium and plutonium were used in these experiments to determine the effect of neutron absorbers on criticality. In some experiments, UO2 and PuO2 rods were latticed in the solutions to which various amounts of gadolinium and a gadolinium-boron mixture were added. Critical dimensions were measured of homogeneous mixtures of the solutions with varying amounts of gadolinium and gadolinium-boron added. The effect of boron-glass Raschig rings on the criticality of the solutions was also determined. Plutonium comprised 30 wt% of the uranium-plutonium component of the solution.
