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 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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
Dec 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
3D-printed tool at SRS makes quicker work of tank waste sampling
A 3D-printed tool has been developed at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina that can eliminate months from the job of radioactive tank waste sampling.
C. R. Richey, J. D. White, E. D. Clayton, R. C. Lloyd
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 23 | Number 2 | October 1965 | Pages 150-158
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE65-A28139
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Critical experiments were conducted with homogeneous mixtures of PuO2 - polystyrene (H:Pu atomic ratio of 15) containing both 2.2 and 8.0% Pu240. Criticality was determined for a series of Plexiglas reflected rectangular prisms ranging from near cubes, to long columns, and to thin slabs; bare arrays of near-cubic geometry were also studied. Critical thicknesses were 16.09 ± 0.41 and 5.99 ± 0.10 cm, respectively, for the bare and reflected infinite slabs of PuO2-polystyrene containing 2.2% Pu240. Corresponding values for the 8.0% Pu240 mixtures were 18.48 ± 0.41 and 7.38 ± 0.09 cm. The infinite slab thicknesses for an equivalent Pu239-water mixture (H:Pu = 15, ρ = 1.62 g Pu/cm3) were 11.66 ± 0.30 and 4.38 ± 0.08 cm, respectively, for the bare and water-reflected slabs. Corresponding critical radii for infinitely long cylinders were 10.52 ± 0.16 and 6.54 ± 0.14 cm; radii for critical spheres were 13.81 ± 0.16 and 10.40 ± 0.17 cm.