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 Winter Conference & Expo
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
Latest Magazine Issues
Sep 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Westinghouse, Nordion, and PSEG team up to produce Co‑60 in the United States
This past January, Westinghouse Electric Company, Nordion, and PSEG Nuclear formalized agreements to implement newly developed cobalt-60 production technology at Units 1 and 2 of PSEG’s Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey, with the Co-60 to be supplied to Nordion. Through an ongoing joint initiative, the companies aim to harness U.S. pressurized water reactors to produce a key medical isotope and build the first commercial-scale Co-60 production platform in the United States.
George I. Bell
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 21 | Number 3 | March 1965 | Pages 390-401
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE65-1
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We consider the probability, pn(R,t∫; ,,t), that in a multiplying system, a neutron with position velocity , at time t leads to exactly n neutrons in region R of , space at time t∫. By formulating pn in terms of first collision probabilities we derive a non-linear (Boltzmann-like) integro-differential equation for the probability generating function, G. The linearized equation for = 1 - G is shown to be adjoint to the usual Boltzmann equation for the average neutron flux. The behavior of for subcritical and supercritical systems is analyzed. For large t∫-t, it is shown that for subcritical systems approaches zero exponentially, while for supercritical systems → which is a solution of the time-independent non-linear equation for and equals the probability of getting a divergent chain reaction from the initial neutron. In section B, one-velocity theory with isotropic scattering is described in some detail while in section C are outlined the extensions to 1) energy-dependent problems with anisotropic scattering 2) multiple final states, 3) random sources, 4) counting problems, and 5) delayed neutron precursors. In section D methods for solution of equations for G are briefly discussed, and it is shown that the asymptotic behavior may be found from solutions of linear time-independent ‘adjoint α’ and ‘adjoint k’ calculations. Derivation of a point model independent of space and velocity is carried out by an expansion in adjoint α eigenfunctions and the model parameters are shown to differ from those usually assumed in point models.