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.
S. T. Perkins
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 69 | Number 2 | February 1979 | Pages 137-146
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE79-A20605
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The characteristics of neutron-induced fission in a compressed plasma composed of eqi-molar deuterium-tritium and plutonium are investigated. The slowing down parameters of the fission fragment—thermalization times, ranges, energy partitions, and spectra of suprathermal knock-on ions—are calculated for a wide variety of conditions. These results indicate that the fission fragment energy deposition can be regarded as both instantaneous and spatially localized with respect to the other processes of interest. Hence, all fragment energy will be deposited within any physical system. This will raise the energy of some of the plasma ions to a region where the fusion process is much more probable, thus enhancing the production of 14-MeV neutrons.