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 Winter Conference & Expo
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
Latest Magazine Issues
Sep 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Westinghouse, Nordion, and PSEG team up to produce Co‑60 in the United States
This past January, Westinghouse Electric Company, Nordion, and PSEG Nuclear formalized agreements to implement newly developed cobalt-60 production technology at Units 1 and 2 of PSEG’s Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey, with the Co-60 to be supplied to Nordion. Through an ongoing joint initiative, the companies aim to harness U.S. pressurized water reactors to produce a key medical isotope and build the first commercial-scale Co-60 production platform in the United States.
J. Ligou
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 63 | Number 1 | May 1977 | Pages 31-40
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE77-A27001
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
On the basis of a point kinetic model (adiabatic approximation), the explosion of fissionable pellets is analyzed. The needed kinetic parameters are derived from steady-state multigroup transport calculations. The effect of the reflectors is included not only in the critical mass determination but also in the kinetic behavior of the pellets through the effective lifetime. Although the hydrodynamic expansion is not considered, fuel burnup is taken into account to ascertain the time needed for maximum efficiency. This time is then compared to the disassembly time. A simple formalism is included that directly gives the microexplosion efficiency. Most of the numerical results are related to Li-D-reflected plutonium pellets. The ignition of the fission chain reactions is provided by fusion neutrons produced in the reflector, but the bootstrap mechanism between fission and fusion is not included.