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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Breaking ground on a new approach to construction
The drive to Kairos Power’s reactor demonstration site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is not only scenic—it’s historic. Nearly 85 years ago, roughly 30,000 construction workers transformed orchards and farmland into a key Manhattan Project site. Depending on your route, you may pass by one of the three gatehouses that were once military checkpoints controlling access to Atomic Energy Commission production facilities.
W. D. Kelley, B. L. Twitty
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 13 | Number 4 | August 1962 | Pages 374-377
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26179
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An improved neutron activation procedure for determining the U235 content in impure uranium samples is presented. With 95% confidence, a relative precision of ±1% is obtained at the level of 0.7 wt % U235. An ethyl acetate extraction is used to purify the uranium chemically. Most of the uranium decay products are removed by extraction with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) in xylene. The purified uranium, which is subsequently activated as U3O8, has a consistent gamma background level. Utilization of a i.d. well scintillation crystal has permitted the use of large diameter aluminum planchettes holding 2 gm aliquots of U3O8. This system has minimized the problem of varying irradiation geometries caused by differences in U3O8 bulk density. Data from a sample recycle program are presented to illustrate the relative precision of ±1%. Comparisons between neutron activation and mass spectrometric results agree within ±1%.