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.
Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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
May 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC v. Texas: Supreme Court weighs challenge to NRC authority in spent fuel storage case
The State of Texas has not one but two ongoing federal court challenges to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that could, if successful, turn decades of NRC regulations, precedent, and case law on its head.
Mahsa Farasat, Federico Zagni, Lorenzo Pompignoli, G. A. Pablo Cirrone, Ulrich W. Scherer, Lidia Strigari, Domiziano Mostacci
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 9 | September 2023 | Pages 2317-2326
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2164148
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Argon-41 is an essential gaseous radionuclide that must be monitored in gaseous effluents from nuclear facilities. Therefore, a precise evaluation of 41Ar activity is highly desired. Gamma spectroscopy with a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector coupled with a multichannel analyzer (MCA) is one of the widely used techniques for the identification and activity measurements of radioisotopes. However, the efficiency calibration of these kinds of monitoring systems highly depends on the source-detector geometry, and a large amount of uncertainty may complicate the calibration. This paper presents the evaluation of the full peak efficiency of a 2 × 2-in. NaI(Tl) scintillation detector coupled with a stable MCA for a 41Ar source with 1293.5 keV energy in two different source-detector geometries, duct and Marinelli beaker, using the FLUKA code. A new experimental technique is considered to produce 41Ar in a controlled geometry, like a Marinelli beaker, through neutron irradiation of natural argon inside a cyclotron bunker. The simulation data were compared with the experimental results for Marinelli beaker geometry, and the ratio was evaluated as 0.99 ± 0.07. The ratio was considered a scaling factor for the final efficiency calibration of duct geometry.