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.
Raymond Gold
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1964 | Pages 493-512
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE64-A20992
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Activation measurements are utilized to determine approximate representations of neutron spectra in the form of orthonormal expansions. Two different methods, the Gram-Schmidt and least-squares expansions, are examined. The sensitivity of these methods to experimental error in the neutron cross sections is explored. The least-squares method proves generally superior to the Gram-Schmidt method in this application. The present computations imply that more accurate spectral information can be obtained from orthonormal expansions which employ fewer cross sections of high precision as opposed to many cross sections of moderate precision.