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
Startup looks to commercialize inertial fusion energy
Another startup hoping to capitalize on progress the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has made in realizing inertial fusion energy has been launched. On August 27, San Francisco–based Inertia Enterprises, a private fusion power start-up, announced the formation of the company with the goal of commercializing fusion energy.
Albert L. Hanson, Hans Ludewig, David J. Diamond
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 153 | Number 1 | May 2006 | Pages 26-32
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE06-4
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The prompt neutron lifetime was calculated for the NBSR, a heavy water-cooled and -moderated research reactor at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The method is based on the fact that the decay of a pulse of fast neutrons is related to the prompt neutron lifetime (and the multiplication constant for the reactor and the delayed neutron fraction). A Monte Carlo simulation of the decay is then used to calculate the prompt neutron lifetime at two points in the fuel cycle. At the start-up of a new cycle, the prompt neutron lifetime was calculated to be 774 ± 35 s, and at the end of a cycle, it was calculated to be 819 ± 48 s.