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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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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AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
P. R. Fields, G. L. Pyle, M. G. Inghram, H. Diamond, M. H. Studier, W. M. Manning
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 1 | Number 1 | March 1956 | Pages 62-67
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE56-A17658
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effective pile neutron capture cross sections of the heavier Pu isotopes have been measured by irradiations, in the Chalk River Reactor (NRX) and in the Materials Testing Reactor. The values in barns for Pu240, Pu241, Pu242, Pu243, Pu244, and Pu245 were found to be: 530 ± 50, 390 ± 80, 30 ± 10, 170 ± 90, 1.5 ± 0.3, and 260 ± 145, respectively. In addition, a thermal neutron absorption cross section of 1450 ± 250 barns was found for Pu241 and a thermal neutron fission cross section of 1060 ± 210 barns for Pu241. Using these cross sections and an assumed flux of 3 × 1014 cm-2 sec-1, curves were calculated and plotted showing the variation in composition of plutonium as a function of integrated flux.
