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 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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
Dec 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
NEUP honors young ANS members with R&D awards
Each year, the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) recognizes graduate and undergraduate students for their innovative nuclear energy research. The winners of the Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research and Development Student Competition (INSC) receive honoraria along with travel and conference opportunities, including the chance to present their publications at the annual American Nuclear Society Winter Conference & Expo.
J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr.
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 5 | Number 4 | April 1959 | Pages 207-214
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE59-A25585
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A simple analytic formula is derived for the values of the prompt neutron density, the delayed neutron emitter densities, and the period in a reactor at the instant it has becòme prompt critical under the assumption that it has been brought to a prompt critical state from an arbitrary subprompt critical initial state by introducing reactivity at the constant rate of a dollars per second. For a fixed value of a, these formulas are asymptotic with respect to small values of the dimensionless parameter al/β, in which l is the mean lifetime of a neutron in the reactor and β is the fraction of fission neutrons which are delayed. For fast reactors, the quantity l/β is generally small, so that our formulas should be useful in estimating the power rise at prompt critical unless the rate of introduction of reactivity is quite large.