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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
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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
The 2025 ANS election results are in!
Spring marks the passing of the torch for American Nuclear Society leadership. During this election cycle, ANS members voted for the newest vice president/president-elect, treasurer, and six board of director positions (four U.S., one non-U.S., one student). New professional division leadership was also decided on in this election, which opened February 25 and closed April 15. About 21 percent of eligible members of the Society voted—a similar turnout to last year.
Adrienne L. Lehnert, Kimberlee J. Kearfott
Nuclear Technology | Volume 188 | Number 1 | October 2014 | Pages 97-111
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and General Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-125
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fast neutron interrogation for explosives detection has shown potential for the screening of sea-land cargo containers. Simulations were completed investigating the neutron scatter behavior of 14.1-MeV fast neutrons in such screening scenarios. Earlier efforts centered on Monte Carlo (MCNP5) simulations to identify flags or on specific calculations based on photons or neutrons produced as a result of fast neutron interaction that signal the presence of the explosive RDX (C2H6N6O6). Those simulations consisted of simplified target geometry; artificially collimated neutron source; and generalized organic, hydrogenous, or metallic types of cargo materials. In this study, the MCNP5 simulation was expanded to include a more accurate representation of the neutron source, target geometry, detector response, and realistic and varied container contents. The flags found using the earlier simulations were applied to the more realistic scenario models in order to determine the feasibility of the use of flags in a detection algorithm. Additional flags utilizing the simulated detector response were also investigated. The conditions under which specific flags were preferable were also examined. It was found that many flags performed well independent of the cargo type while others, such as those using only neutron backscatter, were more highly dependent on cargo type. Furthermore, many of the best-performing flags were those that did not require stringent neutron spectroscopy and would therefore be feasible with existing technology.