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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
S. E. Corno, M. L. Buzano, P. Ravetto
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 105 | Number 2 | June 1990 | Pages 142-159
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE90-A23744
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An original technique for deriving the closed form solution of the multigroup system of time- and space-dependent neutron diffusion equations is reported and applied to a nonuniform multiplying structure of particular interest in cylindrical geometry. The problem of evaluating the time eigenvalues, the dynamic eigenstates, and the asymptotic power behavior of mixed fuel cores, where localized variations of the delayed neutron yield of the fuel occur, is analyzed on a rigorous basis and solved for significant sample geometries. The results provide a sound basis for establishing the region of a core where a significant amount of plutonium will induce the “minimum damage” to the overall dynamic characteristics of the reactor. These results also provide the “more suitable spatial distributions” to be assigned to a limited quantity of uranium to improve the dynamic performance of a nonuniform core, basically fueled with plutonium or mixed fissionable materials. Hence, it can be stated, on a rigorous a priori basis, the conditions where the plutonium energy release can be made as safe as possible.