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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
Joseph A. Naser, Paul L. Chambré
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 79 | Number 1 | September 1981 | Pages 99-109
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE81-A19045
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A technique for solving systems of coupled ordinary differential equations with initial, boundary, and/or intermediate conditions is given. This method has a number of inherent advantages over existing techniques as well as being efficient in terms of computer time and space requirements. Optimal control problems can be solved by this technique by using Pontryagin's Maximum Principle to transform the state equations and their associated performance index into a system of coupled differential equations. An example of computing the optimal control for a spatially dependent reactor model with and without temperature feedback is given.