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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Mark S. Jarzemba, James Weldy, English Pearcy, Jim Prikryl, David Pickett
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 133 | Number 3 | November 1999 | Pages 335-341
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2093
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurements are presented of gold concentration in rock/soil samples by delayed neutron activation analysis using a device and method that are potentially field portable. The device consists of a polyethylene moderator and 252Cf as the source of neutrons for activating the samples and a high-purity germanium detector to measure the 412-keV gamma-ray emissions from activated gold. This information is used to extract the gold concentration in the sample. Two types of samples were investigated: (a) pure SiO2 doped with a known amount of gold chloride and (b) U.S. Geological Survey standards. The former types were used to evaluate optimum device performance and to calibrate the device and method. The latter types were used to show typical system performance for the intended application (field exploration for gold deposits). It was found that the device was capable of determining gold concentrations to ~10 ppb with a turnaround time (the sum of irradiation, decay, and counting times) of ~10 days. For samples where the gold concentration was much higher (i.e., gold ore), turnaround times are ~2 days and could be shortened further by sacrificing accuracy (e.g., lessening irradiation, decay, and counting times) or by augmenting source strength.