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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.
Tomas Lefvert
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 54 | Number 4 | August 1974 | Pages 369-375
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE74-A23431
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The eigenvalue problem of the integral neutron transport equation is studied using generalized first-flight collision probabilities. An exact transformation law for these collision probabilities describes how they change when the total cross section of the medium varies. Applying this transformation law on eigenvalue problems of the integral transport equation leads to several useful results. Thus, an explicit eigenvalue equation for the decay constant is derived, and transformed eigenvalue problems for both the multiplication factor, k, and the decay constant, α, are given in terms of the transport properties of a reference configuration, and of scaling parameters for uniform size and/or density changes. Exact scaling laws for k and α at constant mean-free-path transformations result as a special case. Finally, a general, higher order, nonlinear perturbation theory is given for both the multiplication factor and decay constant eigenvalue problems.