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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
Powering the future: How the DOE is fueling nuclear fuel cycle research and development
As global interest in nuclear energy surges, the United States must remain at the forefront of research and development to ensure national energy security, advance nuclear technologies, and promote international cooperation on safety and nonproliferation. A crucial step in achieving this is analyzing how funding and resources are allocated to better understand how to direct future research and development. The Department of Energy has spearheaded this effort by funding hundreds of research projects across the country through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). This initiative has empowered dozens of universities to collaborate toward a nuclear-friendly future.
K. W. Burn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 125 | Number 2 | February 1997 | Pages 128-170
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE97-A24262
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A weight-dependent capability is inserted into the direct statistical approach (DSA) to optimize splitting and Russian roulette (RR) parameters in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations. In the new model, splitting or RR is carried out on a progenitor arriving at a surface in such a way that the weight of the progeny is fixed (for the particular surface). Thus, the model is named the DSA weight tine model. In the presence of weight-dependent games, all components of the second moment, and the time, are not separable. In the absence of weight-dependent games, the component of the second moment describing the weight-dependent splitting or RR is still not separable. Two approximations are examined to render this component separable under these circumstances. One of these approximations, named the noninteger approximation, looks promising. The new DSA model with the noninteger approximation is tested on four sample problems. Comparisons with the previous weight-independent DSA model and with the MCNP (version 4a) weight window generator are made.