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Physics of nuclear reactors
Journal of Nuclear Energy Parts A/B. 1966, Vol. 20, pp. 985 to 986. Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Northern Ireland
BOOK REVIEWS
Physics of Nuclear Reactors, D.
JAKEMAN,
E.U.P., 1966, 356 pp., 50s.
a pleasure to be able to record the appearance of a first-class textbook on reactor physics. This is not to say that there are not others-there are, but they are few in number. Rather it is to note the contrast with the many unsatisfactory books which have been and continue to be published on the same topic. The presentation is clear yet concise, logically arranged and authoritative. It contains the kind of information the newcomer to the subject needs without being cluttered up with lengthy descriptions of irrelevancies and needless explanations of trivialities as are many similar books. Nor does it contain inaccuracies and misleading statements. The only errors appear to be a very few unimportant printing errors. The treatment of the subjects must inevitably follow more or less conventional lines, but there are some differences. The amount of nuclear physics is reduced to the absolute minimum and this is sensible in view of the number of good text books which cover the necessary nuclear physics ground. Other differences are that there is a considerable amount of newer material included and, unusually, a chapter on fast reactors. This is put before the chapter on thermal reactors largely on the argument that fast reactors are simpler systems, can often be treated as homogeneous and a onegroup treatment is therefore often adequate. Following the introductory chapter which contains a section of chain reactions in addition to the nuclear physics, the behaviour of neutrons in non-multiplying materials is discussed. The energy and spatial distributions of the neutrons are considered separately, including the Boltzmann equation and its many approximate methods of solution. Slowing-down with capture is dealt with next and then neutron thermalization. The behaviour of neutrons in multiplying systems is treated by both one- and two-group theory and these methods are next used to treat the problems of fast reactors and then thermal reactors. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous thermal reactors are considered. A short chapter on nuclear fuels and their changes under irradiation leads into the last chapter on reactivity changes and reactor control. There is an Appendix containing tables and graphs, and a further feature of the book is that there is a very liberal use of tables and graphs throughout. As an introduction to reactor physics aimed at graduates in physics and engineering this is a most excellent account. It contains sufficient detail to give a good understanding of the subject but has been kept to a reasonable size so as not to be overwhelming as an introduction, IT IS
J. F.
The Collected Papers of Enrico Fermi, Vol. II,* E. 1084 pp., $22.50.
AMALDI ef al.,
HILL
University of Chicago Press, 1965.
THIS volume covers Fermi’s scientific work after his emigration to the United States in 1938. It contains published papers, reports on work connected with the nuclear reactor, presentation of experimental results, theories and some lectures delivered by Fermi. Interleaved between the writings of Fermi are short accounts by Anderson, Segrk, Weinberg, Greenewalt, Teller, Feld, Breit, Overbeck, Marshall, Waltenberg, Yang, Metropolis, Chandrasekhar and others setting the background against which Fermi’s work was performed and decisions taken and also giving some very interesting examples of Fermi’s method of working and thinking. Some of these accounts show Fermi’s greatness and weaknesses very clearly, and one gets a feeling for the human being as well as for the scientist. For example, we see Fermi with none of the requisite patience of a good chemist, trying to speed a process beyond what was prudent with the resultant explosion, flame and singeing of eyebrows. We see him engaging in fast leg-work to get short half-life samples into the counter, and we see his indifference to paintings which others found pleasurable. * Enrico Fermi, Collected Papers (Note e Memorie), Vol. II, United States 1939-54, University of Chicago Press, Accademia Nazionale Dei Lincei, Rome. G
985
BOOK REVIEWS
Physics of Nuclear Reactors, D.
JAKEMAN,
E.U.P., 1966, 356 pp., 50s.
a pleasure to be able to record the appearance of a first-class textbook on reactor physics. This is not to say that there are not others-there are, but they are few in number. Rather it is to note the contrast with the many unsatisfactory books which have been and continue to be published on the same topic. The presentation is clear yet concise, logically arranged and authoritative. It contains the kind of information the newcomer to the subject needs without being cluttered up with lengthy descriptions of irrelevancies and needless explanations of trivialities as are many similar books. Nor does it contain inaccuracies and misleading statements. The only errors appear to be a very few unimportant printing errors. The treatment of the subjects must inevitably follow more or less conventional lines, but there are some differences. The amount of nuclear physics is reduced to the absolute minimum and this is sensible in view of the number of good text books which cover the necessary nuclear physics ground. Other differences are that there is a considerable amount of newer material included and, unusually, a chapter on fast reactors. This is put before the chapter on thermal reactors largely on the argument that fast reactors are simpler systems, can often be treated as homogeneous and a onegroup treatment is therefore often adequate. Following the introductory chapter which contains a section of chain reactions in addition to the nuclear physics, the behaviour of neutrons in non-multiplying materials is discussed. The energy and spatial distributions of the neutrons are considered separately, including the Boltzmann equation and its many approximate methods of solution. Slowing-down with capture is dealt with next and then neutron thermalization. The behaviour of neutrons in multiplying systems is treated by both one- and two-group theory and these methods are next used to treat the problems of fast reactors and then thermal reactors. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous thermal reactors are considered. A short chapter on nuclear fuels and their changes under irradiation leads into the last chapter on reactivity changes and reactor control. There is an Appendix containing tables and graphs, and a further feature of the book is that there is a very liberal use of tables and graphs throughout. As an introduction to reactor physics aimed at graduates in physics and engineering this is a most excellent account. It contains sufficient detail to give a good understanding of the subject but has been kept to a reasonable size so as not to be overwhelming as an introduction, IT IS
J. F.
The Collected Papers of Enrico Fermi, Vol. II,* E. 1084 pp., $22.50.
AMALDI ef al.,
HILL
University of Chicago Press, 1965.
THIS volume covers Fermi’s scientific work after his emigration to the United States in 1938. It contains published papers, reports on work connected with the nuclear reactor, presentation of experimental results, theories and some lectures delivered by Fermi. Interleaved between the writings of Fermi are short accounts by Anderson, Segrk, Weinberg, Greenewalt, Teller, Feld, Breit, Overbeck, Marshall, Waltenberg, Yang, Metropolis, Chandrasekhar and others setting the background against which Fermi’s work was performed and decisions taken and also giving some very interesting examples of Fermi’s method of working and thinking. Some of these accounts show Fermi’s greatness and weaknesses very clearly, and one gets a feeling for the human being as well as for the scientist. For example, we see Fermi with none of the requisite patience of a good chemist, trying to speed a process beyond what was prudent with the resultant explosion, flame and singeing of eyebrows. We see him engaging in fast leg-work to get short half-life samples into the counter, and we see his indifference to paintings which others found pleasurable. * Enrico Fermi, Collected Papers (Note e Memorie), Vol. II, United States 1939-54, University of Chicago Press, Accademia Nazionale Dei Lincei, Rome. G
985