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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
Powering the future: How the DOE is fueling nuclear fuel cycle research and development
As global interest in nuclear energy surges, the United States must remain at the forefront of research and development to ensure national energy security, advance nuclear technologies, and promote international cooperation on safety and nonproliferation. A crucial step in achieving this is analyzing how funding and resources are allocated to better understand how to direct future research and development. The Department of Energy has spearheaded this effort by funding hundreds of research projects across the country through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). This initiative has empowered dozens of universities to collaborate toward a nuclear-friendly future.
F. H. Fröhner
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 106 | Number 3 | November 1990 | Pages 345-352
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE89-177
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent measurements define the prompt fission neutron spectrum of 252Cf from 25 keV to 20 MeV with sufficient accuracy to show that the standard representation by a Maxwell spectrum with the temperature parameter TM = 1.42 MeV is not adequate. The next simplest macroscopic representation, a Watt spectrum with the two parameters Tw = 1.18 MeV and Ew = 0.36 MeV, fits the recent data surprisingly well, at least as well as the best currently available microscopic models of fission neutron emission. The resulting chi-square does not indicate any need for a more sophisticated description, nor is the fit improved by refinements such as superposition of two Watt distributions (for a representative fragment pair), or relativistic corrections.
