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
Apr 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
March 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2026
Latest News
DOE selects first companies for nuclear launch pad
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and the National Reactor Innovation Center have announced their first selections for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad: three companies developing microreactors and one developing fuel supply.
The four companies—Deployable Energy, General Matter, NuCube Energy, and Radiant Industries—were selected from the initial pool of Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program applicants, the two precursor programs to the launch pad.
Gad Shani
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 52 | Number 2 | October 1973 | Pages 215-226
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE73-A28191
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron waves in a reflected reactor are analyzed using the two-group diffusion equation. The solution is composed of a transient which disappears within a few milliseconds, a steady-state part, and an oscillatory part. The last is comprised of four terms corresponding to four waves: two propagating waves and two reflected waves. When a sinusoidal source of thermal neutrons is applied to a water-moderated multiplying medium, the source wave amplitude decays with a relaxation length equal to the diffusion length of the medium. A wave of fast neutrons is then produced by fission which is induced by the source wave. This fast-neutron wave carries the wave phenomenon across the core. The two propagating thermal-neutron waves are (a) the source wave, and (b) a wave of thermalized fission neutrons. The two reflected waves are the reflections of the two propagating waves. The amplitudes and phases of the four waves are calculated, together with those of the total wave which is the sum of the four partial waves. The agreement of the measured data of the total wave with the calculations is reasonable. Modulated poison and source oscillators were used for the experiments. The reactor response to both was essentially the same except in the region near the oscillators; while the first decreased the number of neutrons, the second increased their number.