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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Breaking ground on a new approach to construction
The drive to Kairos Power’s reactor demonstration site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is not only scenic—it’s historic. Nearly 85 years ago, roughly 30,000 construction workers transformed orchards and farmland into a key Manhattan Project site. Depending on your route, you may pass by one of the three gatehouses that were once military checkpoints controlling access to Atomic Energy Commission production facilities.
K. S. Kim, L. F. Nakae, M. K. Prasad, N. J. Snyderman, J. M. Verbeke
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 188 | Number 1 | October 2017 | Pages 57-84
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2017.1340691
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fast nanosecond timescale neutron and gamma-ray counting can be performed with a (liquid) scintillator array. Fission chains in metal evolve over a timescale of tens of nanoseconds. If the metal is surrounded by moderator, neutrons leaking from the metal can thermalize and diffuse in the moderator. With finite probability, the diffusing neutrons can return to the metal and restart the fast fission chain. The timescale for this restart process is microseconds. A theory describing time evolving fission chains for metal surrounded by moderator, including this restart process, is presented. This theory is sufficiently simple for it to be implemented for real-time analysis.