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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Biplab Ghosh, S. B. Degweker
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 147 | Number 2 | June 2004 | Pages 167-175
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE04-A2426
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurements of neutron flux in the laboratory are known to show significant departure from the inverse square law due to reflection of neutrons from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the laboratory. A simple model is developed to describe the flux distribution due to a point isotropic source in such a situation by treating the room as a cavity with reflecting walls. The model is exactly solvable for a spherical cavity and leads to a simple formula for the flux distribution. The formula thus derived shows good agreement with Monte Carlo computations. Small deviations of the formula from the computed results, particularly for thin walls, are explained as being caused by the anisotropy of the incoming angular distribution of the reflected flux.