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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
D. B. MacMillan
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 39 | Number 3 | March 1970 | Pages 329-336
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE70-A19994
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A mathematical method is described for the computation of the probability distribution of neutron populations in a point reactor with a weak source. The author and his colleagues have previously described a method for doing such computations, and G. I. Bell has described a different method; the present paper uses ideas from both of these older methods plus new formulations for computing the probability distribution from values of the generating function, for evaluating the probability distribution of precursor decay rates instead of that of neutron populations, and for evaluating the effect of short neutron lifetime without using unnecessarily short time steps in numerical integration. As a result, the method presented here is more widely applicable and more accurate than the older methods. The reactor model used here permits taking account of six delayed-neutron precursor groups and of finite neutron lifetime.