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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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
Japan gets new U for enrichment as global power and fuel plans grow
President Trump is in Japan today, with a visit with new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the agenda. Takaichi, who took office just last week as Japan’s first female prime minister, has already spoken in favor of nuclear energy and of accelerating the restart of Japan’s long-shuttered power reactors, as Reuters and others have reported. Much of the uranium to power those reactors will be enriched at Japan’s lone enrichment facility—part of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s Rokkasho fuel complex—which accepted its first delivery of fresh uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) in 11 years earlier this month.
D. P. Wood, C. C. Byers, L. C. Osborn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 8 | Number 6 | December 1960 | Pages 578-587
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE60-A25844
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Critical masses of 6-in. diameter cylinders of plutonium diluted in various volume ratios with steel, aluminum, thorium, air, and depleted uranium were determined. The cores were in 0, 2, 4.5, or 7.5-in. thick uranium reflectors and in 2, 4.5, or 7.5-in. thick thorium reflectors. From these data, the equivalent spherical critical masses of plutonium have been estimated. An appendix gives reflector savings of undiluted plutonium for a variety of materials.