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Reactor handbook
Reactor Science and Technology (Joumal of Nuclear Energy Parts A/B) 1963, Vol. 17. p. 575. Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Northern Ireland
BOOK REVIEW Reactor Handbook (Second Edition Revised and Enlarged) H. SOODAK (Ed.) Vol. III Parts A and B. Interscience. N.Y., 1962. 313 and i87 pp. resp. SINCE the first unclassified edition of the Reactor Handbook was published in 1955 considerable advances have been made in the Physics and Shielding of Reactors. The two books now published, under separate covers, basically replace Sections 1 and 2 of the original volume 1 ‘Physics’. These two new books are Volume III Part A ‘Physics’ and Volume III Part B ‘Shielding’.
Volume III Part A: Physics As a result of this re-arrangement Part A has become a book which is devoted almost exclusively to the physics of reactor cores and reflectors. Although most of the original material has been retained virtually unaltered, extensions and modernisations are everywhere apparent. All this is now contained in a mere 308 pages--excluding the index, as opposed to 616 in the original work. This has been accomplished in the main by reducing the area occupied by each individual diagram. The total number of diagrams is, however, much increased with advantage and their usefulness has not been lessened by the size reduction. Apart from this many pages of decay schemes, binding energies and packing fractions have been omitted no doubt since they occupied space out of all proportion to their usefulness to a reactor physicist. The book is now divided into six chapters the first and last of which are excellent compilations of basic data and critical assembly data respectively. The second chapter describes experimental methods in reactor physics and here notable extensions have been made in discussing critical assemblies and their safety. The remaining chapters cover all aspects of reactor theory with the emphasis predominantly on the application of reactor theory to the solution of everyday problems. Some mention is made of the application of high-speed digital computers to the numerical solution of reactor problems. However, there is little of significance here for most of the advances have taken place since the revision was carried out. The overall impression given by the book is excellent. It is an enormous storehouse of information on all aspects of reactor physics and every reactor physicist is advised to have a copy permanently on his desk. B. CUTTS
Volume Ill Part B: Shielding This book deals exclusively with reactor shielding which has now become an important factor in the commercial exploitation of nuclear power for both land-based and marine reactor systems. The opening chapter deals with the basic shield design criteria and this is followed by a detailed compilation of the neutron and y-ray source data. The authors turn next to the fundamental problem of the neutron attenuation and discuss both the mathematical solutions to the transport equation and the semi-empirical design methods although insticient attention is given to the basic principles and limitations of the removal cross-section technique for hydrogeneous shields. The methods of calculation for Y-ray penetration have remained largely unchanged since the first edition but there is an exhaustive account of the transformations and analytic methods of shield design including some hitherto unpublished solutions. The chapter on ducts and voids contains a detailed description of the available experimental data which is of primary importance for the solution of practical problems many of which are still not amenable to theoretical treatment. The ensuing chapter on nuclear heating is written primarily for the non-specialist and contains only a superficial account of heating effects in concrete shields and the volume ends with a short chapter on shield optimization and a comprehensive description of the air, ground and structure scattering of radiation. In general it can be said of the literature of shielding that rarely does one find a book which affords the reader sufficient data to design an actual shield. In this respect the volume succeeds admirably in its purpose and it is inevitable that the treatment should be based largely on American practice since much of the U.K. work on shielding in the Civil Power Programme was published after the closing date for reference material. The great value of the book lies in the numerous and detailed tabulations and diagrams which are beautifully reproduced and make it indispensible to anyone who is engaged in the practice of reactor shield design. C. G. CAMPBELL
575
BOOK REVIEW Reactor Handbook (Second Edition Revised and Enlarged) H. SOODAK (Ed.) Vol. III Parts A and B. Interscience. N.Y., 1962. 313 and i87 pp. resp. SINCE the first unclassified edition of the Reactor Handbook was published in 1955 considerable advances have been made in the Physics and Shielding of Reactors. The two books now published, under separate covers, basically replace Sections 1 and 2 of the original volume 1 ‘Physics’. These two new books are Volume III Part A ‘Physics’ and Volume III Part B ‘Shielding’.
Volume III Part A: Physics As a result of this re-arrangement Part A has become a book which is devoted almost exclusively to the physics of reactor cores and reflectors. Although most of the original material has been retained virtually unaltered, extensions and modernisations are everywhere apparent. All this is now contained in a mere 308 pages--excluding the index, as opposed to 616 in the original work. This has been accomplished in the main by reducing the area occupied by each individual diagram. The total number of diagrams is, however, much increased with advantage and their usefulness has not been lessened by the size reduction. Apart from this many pages of decay schemes, binding energies and packing fractions have been omitted no doubt since they occupied space out of all proportion to their usefulness to a reactor physicist. The book is now divided into six chapters the first and last of which are excellent compilations of basic data and critical assembly data respectively. The second chapter describes experimental methods in reactor physics and here notable extensions have been made in discussing critical assemblies and their safety. The remaining chapters cover all aspects of reactor theory with the emphasis predominantly on the application of reactor theory to the solution of everyday problems. Some mention is made of the application of high-speed digital computers to the numerical solution of reactor problems. However, there is little of significance here for most of the advances have taken place since the revision was carried out. The overall impression given by the book is excellent. It is an enormous storehouse of information on all aspects of reactor physics and every reactor physicist is advised to have a copy permanently on his desk. B. CUTTS
Volume Ill Part B: Shielding This book deals exclusively with reactor shielding which has now become an important factor in the commercial exploitation of nuclear power for both land-based and marine reactor systems. The opening chapter deals with the basic shield design criteria and this is followed by a detailed compilation of the neutron and y-ray source data. The authors turn next to the fundamental problem of the neutron attenuation and discuss both the mathematical solutions to the transport equation and the semi-empirical design methods although insticient attention is given to the basic principles and limitations of the removal cross-section technique for hydrogeneous shields. The methods of calculation for Y-ray penetration have remained largely unchanged since the first edition but there is an exhaustive account of the transformations and analytic methods of shield design including some hitherto unpublished solutions. The chapter on ducts and voids contains a detailed description of the available experimental data which is of primary importance for the solution of practical problems many of which are still not amenable to theoretical treatment. The ensuing chapter on nuclear heating is written primarily for the non-specialist and contains only a superficial account of heating effects in concrete shields and the volume ends with a short chapter on shield optimization and a comprehensive description of the air, ground and structure scattering of radiation. In general it can be said of the literature of shielding that rarely does one find a book which affords the reader sufficient data to design an actual shield. In this respect the volume succeeds admirably in its purpose and it is inevitable that the treatment should be based largely on American practice since much of the U.K. work on shielding in the Civil Power Programme was published after the closing date for reference material. The great value of the book lies in the numerous and detailed tabulations and diagrams which are beautifully reproduced and make it indispensible to anyone who is engaged in the practice of reactor shield design. C. G. CAMPBELL
575