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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!
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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.
A. R. Boulogne, J. P. Faraci
Nuclear Technology | Volume 11 | Number 1 | May 1971 | Pages 75-83
Technical Paper | Radioisotope | doi.org/10.13182/NT71-A30903
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Californium-252 makes an intense neutron point source that emits 2.34 × 1012 n/(sec g) through spontaneous fission. Sources are being prepared to investigate the value of this radionuclide for mineral, petroleum, and gas exploration, well logging and hydrology, activation analysis, neutron radiography, and other areas where isotopic neutron sources are used. Sources containing milligram amounts of 252Cf with active volumes of <25 mm3 are being prepared by precipitating and filtering californium oxalate on a small metallic filter, which is in the primary capsule in a totally enclosed apparatus. The oxalate is calcined to 252Cf2O3 before the primary capsule is sealed. These sources are doubly encapsulated under conservative design criteria to prevent leakage of radioactive material because they are used in a wide variety of environmental conditions. The neutron emission rate of the finished sources is within 10% of the desired value. Less than 1% of the 252Cf was lost in the process. Because the practical upper limit for the present capsule design is about ten milligrams of 252Cf, procedures are being developed for preparing sources containing up to several hundreds of milligrams of the isotope.