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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.
William W. Wadman III
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 35 | Number 2 | February 1969 | Pages 220-226
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE69-A21137
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The angular distribution, yield, spectra, and attenuation of fast neutrons from the alpha-particle bombardment of a thick elemental tantalum target have been measured. Data obtained by using threshold energy detectors and thermal-neutron detectors were reduced to neutron spectra with the computer program FLUXPOS. Thermal-neutron activation foils were placed in the shielding at 6-in. intervals to determine the neutron attenuation profiles at 0, 75, and 90° from the target. Data show that the neutron spectral slope becomes steeper and the relaxation length (1/e attenuation thickness) decreases with increasing angle.