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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Latest News
Perpetual Atomics, QSA Global produce Am fuel for nuclear space power
U.K.-based Perpetual Atomics and U.S.-based QSA Global claim to have achieved a major step forward in processing americium dioxide to fuel radioisotope power systems used in space missions. Using an industrially scalable process, the companies said they have turned americium into stable, large-scale ceramic pellets that can be directly integrated into sealed sources for radioisotope power systems, including radioisotope heater units (RHUs) and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs).
K. Wisshak, F. Käppeler
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 66 | Number 3 | June 1978 | Pages 363-377
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27219
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The neutron capture cross sections of 240Pu and 242Pu were measured in the energy range from 10 to 90 keV. The capture cross sections of both 197Au and 238U were chosen as standards. Neutrons were produced via the 7Li(p,n) reaction with the Karlsruhe 3-MV pulsed Van de Graaff accelerator. Capture events were detected by a Moxon-Rae detector. The high neutron flux available at flight paths as short as ∼10 cm offers a signal-to-background ratio one order of magnitude better than obtained in previous experiments. The cross-section ratios could therefore be determined with a total statistical and systematic uncertainty of 4 to 10% for 240Pu and 6 to 10% for 242Pu. The results agree with previous data, while discrepancies to the evaluated files ENDF/B-IV and KEDAK 3 were found (up to 30% for 240Pu and up to 50% for 242Pu).
