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
New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
Raymond E. Alcouffe
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 56 | Number 4 | April 1975 | Pages 321-339
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE75-A26680
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We introduce a generalization of the neutron diffusion equation, the solution of which is an accurate approximation to the transport scalar Flux. In this generalization we utilize auxiliary transport calculations of the system of interest to compute an accurate, pointwise diffusion coefficient. We have specified a procedure to generate and improve this auxiliary information in a systematic way, leading to improvement in the calculated diffusion scalar flux. This improvement is shown to be contingent upon satisfying the condition of positive calculated-diffusion coefficients, and we present an algorithm that ensures this positivity. Our generalized diffusion theory is also shown to be compatible with conventional diffusion theory in the sense that the same methods and codes can be used to calculate a solution for both. The accuracy of the method compared to reference SN transport calculations is demonstrated for a wide variety of examples.