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 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Harvey J. Amster, Wilson K. Talley
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 20 | Number 1 | September 1964 | Pages 53-59
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE64-A19274
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
When describing neutrons interacting with homogeneous media, Monte Carlo can generate a sequence of energies and flight directions without locating the positions of the collisions that produced them. If the spatial distribution of one of these collisions is then described analytically, unbiased direct samples of the neutron density can conveniently be obtained at specified positions and energies and at discretely sampled angles. Previous applications for plane sources in infinite media with real cross sections are here generalized for plane sources in slabs and point sources within infinite half spaces. A modified treatment for heterogeneous media is also formulated. These extensions to other geometries can provide not only additional calculational standards, but also theoretical results that could disagree with experimental facts only because of the assumed nuclear data.