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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!
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Latest News
Chris Wagner: The role of Eden Radioisotopes in the future of nuclear medicine
Chris Wagner has more than 40 years of experience in nuclear medicine, beginning as a clinical practitioner before moving into leadership roles at companies like Mallinckrodt (now Curium) and Nordion. His knowledge of both the clinical and the manufacturing sides of nuclear medicine laid the groundwork for helping to found Eden Radioisotopes, a start-up venture that intends to make diagnostic and therapeutic raw material medical isotopes like molybdenum-99 and lutetium-177.
Rio Quinn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 9 | September 2024 | Pages 1874-1878
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2278931
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper analyzes the design of an alpha-decay sail. While previous studies have been conducted on the feasibility of alpha-decay sails, none have investigated the effects of different backing materials and backing material thicknesses on propulsion. This paper conducts simulations using the particle simulation toolkit Geant4 to determine the thrust produced from alpha-decay sails constructed of 238Pu and a backing layer made of aluminum, beryllium, lithium, or polyethylene. The results demonstrate that alpha-decay sails can be a very useful form of in-space propulsion, having the potential to dramatically decrease travel time beyond distances of 100 AU.
