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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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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AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
G. E. Hansen, D. P. Wood, W. U. Geer
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 8 | Number 6 | December 1960 | Pages 588-594
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE60-A25845
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Critical masses have been measured for enriched-uranium-metal cylinders reflected on both ends and on one end only by multiple layers of two and three of the metals Cu, Fe, Zn, Ni, and stainless steel. For other measurements the core was partially moderated with graphite and with polyethylene so as to give the influence of decreased neutron energy upon reflector savings of the multiple reflectors. Critical mass values with composite reflectors are less than the simple averages of values for the elements alone. This reduction of critical mass, most pronounced for the Ni-Fe reflectors, is primarily due to the fact that the self-shielding of the scattering resonances in medium-Z elements is appreciable when one-element reflectors are used, and is reduced when two or more of these elements are mixed in the reflectors.