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.
J. A. DeJuren and R. K. Paschall
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 20 | Number 3 | November 1964 | Pages 314-317
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE64-A19575
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The transmission of thermal neutrons through cadmium covers as a function of cadmium thickness was measured in a graphite stack at various heights above the thermal column of the AE-6 water-boiler reactor. Both dysprosium-alloy and indium-alloy foils were used as detectors and were beta-counted. Because the thermal flux incident on a cadmium cover is depressed relative to the flux incident on a bare foil, a foil with a thick cadmium cover on one side only was used for the zero-thickness measurement and its activity was doubled. The resultant thermal activities for a thin detector were consistent with the exponential integral 0.930 Ε2(dΣα) a cadmium thickness greater than 0.025 cm, where and a value of 2450 barns was used for the absorption cross section of cadmium.