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.
R. W. Albrecht, S. A. Wright
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 55 | Number 3 | November 1974 | Pages 296-306
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE74-A23456
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Walsh functions are used to construct binary signals suitable for reactor dynamics testing. It is shown that these signals have many properties which may make them preferable to binary signals constructed from a trigonometric basis set. It is further shown that system response characteristics determined on the basis of input/output analysis are identical to Fourier analysis if the Walsh basis set is used and the system is unperturbed by noise. If noise is present in the system response function, it is shown through sample calculations that the squared error of the transfer function estimate is approximately 50% smaller using signals and analysis based on the Walsh basis functions than is found using trigonometric basis functions.