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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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
College students help develop waste-measuring device at Hanford
A partnership between Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and Washington State University has resulted in the development of a device to measure radioactive and chemical tank waste at the Hanford Site. WRPS is the contractor at Hanford for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.
Rodolfo M. Ferrer, Joel D. Rhodes III
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 182 | Number 2 | February 2016 | Pages 151-165
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE15-6
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A linear source (LS) approximation scheme is presented for the two-dimensional method of characteristics (MOC). The LS approximation relies on the computation of track-based spatial moments over source regions to obtain the LS expansion coefficients. The proposed LS scheme improves the solution accuracy relative to the constant or flat source (FS) approximation. The LS scheme is capable of treating arbitrarily shaped source regions under isotopic or anisotropic scattering assumptions. The LS scheme is also compatible with standard coarse-mesh finite difference acceleration. Numerical tests presented for the C5G7 mixed oxide benchmark show that for comparable accuracy with respect to the reference solution, the LS approximation can reduce the run time by a factor of 4 and the memory requirements by a factor of 10 relative to the FS scheme. This is because the LS scheme permits the use of a much coarser grid than the FS scheme. Numerical tests presented for simple cold critical core configurations with anisotropic scattering confirm the advantage of using the LS scheme.