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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.
A. Dubi, S. A. W. Gerstl
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 76 | Number 2 | November 1980 | Pages 198-217
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE80-A19451
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recently, a new Monte Carlo method called the contributon Monte Carlo method was developed. The method is based on the theory of “contributons” and utilizes a new recipe for estimating target responses using a volume integral over the contributon current. The analog features of the new method were discussed in previous publications. We examine the application of some biasing methods to the new contributon scheme. A theoretical model is developed that enables an analytic prediction of the benefit to be expected when these biasing schemes are applied to both the contributon method and regular Monte Carlo. This model is verified by a variety of numerical experiments and is shown to yield satisfying results, especially for deep-penetration problems. Other considerations regarding the efficient use of the new method are also discussed and remarks are made as to the application of other biasing methods.