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
2021 Student Conference
April 8–10, 2021
Virtual Meeting
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
Mar 2021
Jul 2020
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2021
Nuclear Technology
February 2021
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2021
Latest News
NC State celebrates 70 years of nuclear engineering education
An early picture of the research reactor building on the North Carolina State University campus. The Department of Nuclear Engineering is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its nuclear engineering curriculum in 2020–2021. Photo: North Carolina State University
The Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University has spent the 2020–2021 academic year celebrating the 70th anniversary of its becoming the first U.S. university to establish a nuclear engineering curriculum. It started in 1950, when Clifford Beck, then of Oak Ridge, Tenn., obtained support from NC State’s dean of engineering, Harold Lampe, to build the nation’s first university nuclear reactor and, in conjunction, establish an educational curriculum dedicated to nuclear engineering.
The department, host to the 2021 ANS Virtual Student Conference, scheduled for April 8–10, now features 23 tenure/tenure-track faculty and three research faculty members. “What a journey for the first nuclear engineering curriculum in the nation,” said Kostadin Ivanov, professor and department head.
John Loberg, Michael Österlund, Jan Blomgren, Klaes-Håkan Bejmer
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 164 | Number 1 | January 2010 | Pages 69-79
Technical Paper | dx.doi.org/10.13182/NSE09-17
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ratio between the thermal- and fast-neutron fluxes in a boiling water reactor depends on the void fraction. The density of the steam-water mixture present in the core determines the efficiency of the moderation of fast neutrons born in fission; therefore, the void fraction could be determined by means of a simultaneous measurement of the thermal- and fast-neutron fluxes. Such measurement could also be used to investigate channel bow of the nuclear fuel bundles surrounding the detector because of sensitivity of the thermal flux to geometry changes.Calculations have been performed with both lattice and nodal codes to study the behavior of the void fraction correlation to the ratio of the thermal- and fast-neutron fluxes. The results prove the correlation to be nearly linear and robust. The rate of change of the correlation is insensitive to standard reactor operating parameters such as control rods and burnable absorbers; the sensitivity of the ratio to void fraction changes primarily depends on the geometry of the fuel bundles. A linear prediction model was used to represent the nodal code results. The absolute void fraction at over 792 positions in the core could be predicted with an absolute uncertainty of ±1.5%.
