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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Robert E. Miles
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 79 | Number 2 | October 1981 | Pages 239-245
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE81-A27414
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new approach is presented for handling problems involving radioactive decay, buildup, and mass transfer. This method uses recursion relations for computing the exponential terms that makes the computation fast and efficient. The concepts of a path specific probability function and a cumulative transfer probability function are introduced and used in developing a general equation. This general equation permits branching from a parent to any daughter nuclide further down the decay chain and also mass transfer to other compartments linked by first-order transfer rate constants. Backward branching or feedback mechanisms, however, are not permitted. Treatment for problems involving singularities is also presented. The method has been found to be useful for many practical applications such as fission product buildup in nuclear reactor cores and releases from reactor plants.