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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
Richard Sanchez
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 177 | Number 1 | May 2014 | Pages 19-34
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE12-95
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We investigate the degeneracy of the first-order PN equations and construct interface and boundary conditions that ensure a unique solution. Our technique is based on establishing an equivalence between the first- and second-order PN equations and showing that the (regular) second-order equations with opposite parity to N are nondegenerate. Assuming bounded angular flux moments and sources, we derive interface and boundary conditions for the regular second-order equations that, via the equivalence, are those to be used with the first-order PN equations. While providing independent derivations, our results reproduce those derived using solid harmonic expansions by Davison and Rumyantsev in the 1950s.