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
Jun 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2026
Latest News
Breaking ground on a new approach to construction
The drive to Kairos Power’s reactor demonstration site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is not only scenic—it’s historic. Nearly 85 years ago, roughly 30,000 construction workers transformed orchards and farmland into a key Manhattan Project site. Depending on your route, you may pass by one of the three gatehouses that were once military checkpoints controlling access to Atomic Energy Commission production facilities.
S. T. Perkins
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 69 | Number 2 | February 1979 | Pages 147-155
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE79-A20606
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The neutron and fusion rate enhancement from in-flight reactions created by knock-ons from fission fragment slowing down in a compressed eqi-molar DT-plutonium plasma has been calculated. The neutron enhancement is worth up to a factor-of-2 reduction in critical mass. However, the neutron e-folding time is on the order of the system disassembly time, thereby restricting the multiplication of the neutron population to a factor of 2 or 3. It therefore appears more appropriate to discuss fission in a thermonuclear plasma in terms of a fusion chain reaction (fission fragment amplification of the fusion rate) rather than a fission chain reaction (neutron enhancement and criticality).