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
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Tai-Ping Lung and Lawrence Ruby
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 59 | Number 4 | April 1976 | Pages 436-440
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE76-A26844
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A generalization of Pacilio's method has been developed for utilizing two detectors to investigate reactor noise. The method requires only the measurement of the polarity of the detector output-current as compared with its average value, and therefore is of use in reactor systems with appreciable subcritical power. The modification extends the theory to the case in which the covariance can exceed unity. A unique bivariate negative binomial distribution is proposed for describing the correlated detectors, and a formula for the covariance-to-mean ratio is developed in terms of the polarity correlations between the detectors. From the ratio, the subcritical reactivity of the system can be determined.