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.
Hiroshi Takahashi
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 41 | Number 2 | August 1970 | Pages 259-270
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE70-A20712
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Monte Carlo method is applied to calculate the reactivity change due to a moving reflector block in the pulsed fast reactor system. This reactivity change is an important quantity in the determination of the power pulse width. In the important region of small displacements about the maximum reactivity point, the reactivity change is so small that the ordinary Monte Carlo methods, using the importance sampling, Russian roulette, or splitting techniques, require prohibitively long calculation times. To avoid this difficulty, a new Monte Carlo method, which directly calculates the geometry coefficient of reactivity due to a geometry perturbation, is developed by adopting the method used in the calculation for the Doppler coefficient by Olhoeft. The formulation of the new method is discussed. The GEMCM code for this geometry perturbation, which is made by modifying the 05R code, is described. Finally, an analysis of the critical experiment for the pulsed fast reactor is carried out using this method and the applicability of the method is discussed.