Elementary introduction to nuclear reactor physics

Book reviews One-velocity and few-group problems are considered and the two- and three-dimensional techniques are of particular interest. The S,, and Monte Carlo methods, as the two most important methods of solving the Boltzmann equation, are discussed in some detail. The S. equations are derived and the essentials of the method are given. The introduction to the Monte Carlo method is quite good, clearly presenting the salient features of the technique and discussing its limitations. The PL approximation perhaps merits more than mention. The introduction to computers themselves suffers from the inclusion of too much irrelevant data and a total lack of ilhrstrations. A table of, at least, the major computers listing their speed, memory capacity, and cost would have been helpful. The discussion of programming acquaints the reader with some of the problems, tools, and language of the coder. The book has generally met the need for a compilation of numerical reactor analysis techniques presented in clear and simple terms. The beginner will find it an adequate introduction to this field. W. E. KINNEY

Ekmentary Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Physics, LIVERHANT,Wiley, N.Y., 1960. 447 pp., $9.75.

S. E.

AMONGthe books which had appeared prior to the publication of this present volume, none was particularly adapted as a text to the needs of an undergraduate course in reactor physics. The present volume was written to fulfill these needs. The opening chapters review the fundamentals of elementary nuclear physics. The topics considered are the standard ones. There is a description of radioactivity and of the structure of the nucleus, a discussion of nuclear forces, the compound nucleus, nuclear reactions, and a presentation of the fission process. The treatment is brief but clear and direct. In this, the author has

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been able to avoid unnecessary complications without doing an injustice to the material. The central and main portion of the book concerns nuclear reactors and their associated neutron populations. A system of classification of reactors is given, and there are tabulated brief data for a number of existing reactors, some of which are further described in the text along with the use of figures. Methods and formulae are’given for the calculation of criticality conditions, and many numerical examples are performed. But, by the author’s limitation on the level of the presentation, it is unlikely that the student will gain therefrom an adequate understanding of the methods of describing neutron populations in nuclear reactors. In particular, the concepts of the neutron flux and the neutron current density vector are discussed insufficiently to make their relation clear, and the diffusion approximation is given only in an appendix without the criteria necessary for determining its validity. The final chapters discuss the various nuclear radiations and radiation protection. By using these final chapters in conjunction with the opening chapters on nuclear physics, this book may be made to serve also as a text for a short preparatory nuclear physics course for potential reactor engineers. For pedagogic reasons the author has restricted his presentation to a level which, I feel, is too limited. Nevertheless, he has conducted an excellent review of pertinent nuclear physics and has been able to convey an overall descriptive conception of reactors and to impart some of the more important ideas associated with the calculational methods. Throughout the book illustrations, tables, and numerical examples are used profusely. Each chapter is concluded with a valuable set of problems and a bibliography. Answers to the problems are given at the back. This book should meet with a favourable reception by those teaching reactor physics at the undergraduate level. J. H. MARABLE