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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Seconds Matter: Rethinking Nuclear Facility Security for the Modern Threat Landscape
In today’s rapidly evolving threat environment, nuclear facilities must prioritize speed and precision in their security responses—because in critical moments, every second counts. An early warning system serves as a vital layer of defense, enabling real-time detection of potential intrusions or anomalies before they escalate into full-blown incidents. By providing immediate alerts and actionable intelligence, these systems empower security personnel to respond decisively, minimizing risk to infrastructure, personnel, and the public. The ability to anticipate and intercept threats at the earliest possible stage not only enhances operational resilience but also reinforces public trust in the safety of nuclear operations. Investing in such proactive technologies is no longer optional—it’s essential for modern nuclear security.
Douglas E. Peplow, Thomas M. Evans, John C. Wagner
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 3 | December 2009 | Pages 785-792
MC Calculations | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (PART 3) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-9
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Monte Carlo is quite useful for calculating specific quantities in complex transport problems. Many variance reduction strategies have been developed that accelerate Monte Carlo calculations for specific tallies. However, when trying to calculate multiple tallies or a mesh tally, users have had to accept different levels of relative uncertainty among the tallies or run separate calculations optimized for each individual tally. To address this limitation, an extension of the Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) method, which is used for difficult source/detector problems, has been developed to optimize several tallies or the cells of a mesh tally simultaneously. The basis for this method is the development of an importance function that represents the importance of particles to the objective of uniform Monte Carlo particle density in the desired tally regions. This method utilizes the results of a forward discrete ordinates solution, which may be based on a quick coarse-mesh calculation, to develop a forward-weighted source for the adjoint calculation. The importance map and the biased source computed from the adjoint flux are then used in the forward Monte Carlo calculation to obtain approximately uniform relative uncertainties for the desired tallies. This extension is called forward-weighted CADIS, or FW-CADIS.