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.
R. L. French, L. G. Mooney
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 43 | Number 3 | March 1971 | Pages 273-280
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE71-A19973
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of the air-ground interface on the scattered fast-neutron dose near the ground was measured at a distance of 1000 ft from a 14-MeV neutron source. The source was the HENRE accelerator operated at a height of 112 ft on the BREN tower at the Nevada Test Site. A horizontal slab of polyethylene 1 ft thick and 5 ft square, with Hurst-type fast-neutron dosimeters mounted on its upper and lower surfaces, separated the neutrons arriving through the upper 2π solid angle from those from the lower 2π. A third detector, mounted on a boom, measured the free-field. The entire assembly was suspended by a hoist system to make measurements at 0.75 to 70 ft above the ground. The scattered dose at the top detector was essentially constant; that at the bottom detector increased by a factor of approximately 2 between 0.75 and 70 ft, and the free-field dose increased by < 25% over the same height range. The experiment provided confirmation, both qualitative and quantitative, of the “first-last collision model” of the air-ground interface effect.