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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.
Kingsley F Graham, John M. Carpenter
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 49 | Number 4 | December 1972 | Pages 418-437
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE72-A22562
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurements of the time and energy dependence of the spectrum of slow neutrons emerging from small pulsed moderators are reported. The results are presented with absolute normalization. Our techniques made measurements possible using a 150 keV Cockroft-Walton D-T neutron generator, producing 1011 n/sec (peak). Energy spectra and time distributions at various energies are reported for slabs of polyethylene at 296°K, and polyethylene, solid ammonia, and solid methane at 77 °K. Variations of yield with overall moderator thickness are described. The effects on spectra and time distributions are elucidated by a series of measurements with cadmium heterogeneous poison at various depths beneath the moderator surface. We compare cadmium and gadolinium heterogeneous poisons, which differ in the energy below which the poison is effective. Results are useful for pulsed moderator design, and as tests of neutron scattering kernels and methods of calculation.