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The physics of nuclear reactors
Book reviews F. MAZZOL~:
hm
53
Nuckare, V. Hoepli, Milan, 4000 1.
As stated by the author in the preface to his book, the publication of a book by an Italian on Nuclear Engineering would seem at first sight to be somewhat strange, the contribution of Italians to nuclear technology having been rather scanty up to this moment. This book is addressed chiefly to Italian engineering school students and deals with’nuclear engineering in breadth rather than depth. Nearly every chapter is therefore to be regarded as an introduction to a particular aspect of reactor design, Most of the material presented in this book could be found in other works, but it may be useful in some way, chiefly to those engineers who, having no previous knowledge in nuclear physics, would probably be discouraged if they had to search the standard texts in nuclear physics and reactor theory to obtain the information they require. Some parts of the book are not well proportioned; as an example, reactor kinetics and disturbances of the steady state as a result of poisonings and control rods are treated in a rather hasty way, while an entire chapter is devoted to tedious and long calculations on homogeneous reactor with reflector by using the so-called two-groups theory. Should the book have contained some explanatory examples and problems on the main topics, the importance of these would have been stressed and made clearer to the reader’s mind. The book is divided in a more or less traditional way into seven chapters which include a prelimary part (Structure of Matter Chap. 1, and Nuclear Reactions Chap. 2), Reactor Physics (Chaps. 3 and 4), Reactor Engineering (Chap. 5), the Properties and Technology of Reactor Materials (Chap. 6) and finally the Use and Applications of Nuclear Energy (Chap. 7). C. S. G.
The Physics of Nuclear Reactors: British Journal of Applied Physics, Supplement No. 5. 1956.122 pp., 25s. THEYvolume contains the complete record of the papers presented at the Institute of Physics Conference in London from 3 to 6 July 1956, together with reports of the discussion on each session. The best way to describe the scope of the volume is to list the titles of the papers: (1) Scientific problems in the development of nuclear power-by Sir JOHN COCKCROFT. (2) The physics of advanced reactors-by J. R. DIETRICH. (3) Experimental reactor physics-by P. W. MUMMERY. (4) The zero-energy fast breeder reactor Zephyr-by L. R. SHEPHERD. (5) The effects of irradiation on the physical properties of solids-by A. H. COITRELL. (6) Shielding of reactors-by G. C. LAURENCE. (7) The control of reactors-by A. J. SALMON. (8) The instrumentation of reactors-by W. MACRAE. (9) The role of chemistry in a nuclear energy project-by R. SPENCE. (10) The role of metallurgy in a nuclear energy project-by L. RO~ERHAM. (11) The Canadian research reactors and their uses-by W. B. L~wrs. (12) The United Kingdom research reactors-by F. W. FENNING. These papers are presented by leading workers in the various fields considered, and this is reflected The opening address by Sir JOHN COCKCROF~is in authoritative and comprehensive treatments. indeed a masterpiece, giving a vivid picture of the present state in the art of providing fundamental data for the reactor designer. That much has been done is obvious but the urgent need for much more to be achieved is keenly realized. Following the introduction, the remaining papers (the titles listed above are self-explanatory) give greater detail of the problems and the theoretical and experimental techniques available for their solution, together with reports on some major research projects being conducted on both sides of the Atlantic. It is very convenient to have this wide variety of material, much of it published for the first time, under one cover. The references are very complete and up to date, and the discussions are well reported. Here it is worth highlighting the excellent contribution by LITTLEand SCHULTZon temperature effects, thermal delays, and stability. Limitation of space prevents a detailed criticism of each paper. However, mention must be made of the extremely high standard demonstrated in the papers by DIETRICHand C!~‘ITRELL.Every paper is well worthy of study, particularly for those engaged in the field of reactor physics, for whom this
54
Book reviews
volume is a “must.” There are, of course, a few points with which one would perhaps disagree, but, in most cases, such differences appear to be based upon personal opinion rather than on verifiable factual information. From the point of view of the users of the information obtained from research work, it seems unfortunate that, ahhough the physics of nuclear reactors here includes most of the allied subjects, heat transfer was not separately included, particularly as other economic considerations are discussed. G. M. I.
ANNOUNCEMENT AUGUST20-22, 1957, Northwestern University will hold a conference on Liquid Scintillation Counting at the Technological Institute, Evanston, Illinois. A wide range of topics on the theory and application of liquid scintillators is covered by invited papers : Coincidence counters, single-channel counters, chemistry of liquid scintillators, and applications in biology and medicine, industry, archaeology, physics, chemistry, and engineering. Abstracts of non-solicited papers should be sent to the Program Chairman, Dr. F. NEWTONHAYES,Los Alamos, New Mexico, by June 1, 1957.
hm
53
Nuckare, V. Hoepli, Milan, 4000 1.
As stated by the author in the preface to his book, the publication of a book by an Italian on Nuclear Engineering would seem at first sight to be somewhat strange, the contribution of Italians to nuclear technology having been rather scanty up to this moment. This book is addressed chiefly to Italian engineering school students and deals with’nuclear engineering in breadth rather than depth. Nearly every chapter is therefore to be regarded as an introduction to a particular aspect of reactor design, Most of the material presented in this book could be found in other works, but it may be useful in some way, chiefly to those engineers who, having no previous knowledge in nuclear physics, would probably be discouraged if they had to search the standard texts in nuclear physics and reactor theory to obtain the information they require. Some parts of the book are not well proportioned; as an example, reactor kinetics and disturbances of the steady state as a result of poisonings and control rods are treated in a rather hasty way, while an entire chapter is devoted to tedious and long calculations on homogeneous reactor with reflector by using the so-called two-groups theory. Should the book have contained some explanatory examples and problems on the main topics, the importance of these would have been stressed and made clearer to the reader’s mind. The book is divided in a more or less traditional way into seven chapters which include a prelimary part (Structure of Matter Chap. 1, and Nuclear Reactions Chap. 2), Reactor Physics (Chaps. 3 and 4), Reactor Engineering (Chap. 5), the Properties and Technology of Reactor Materials (Chap. 6) and finally the Use and Applications of Nuclear Energy (Chap. 7). C. S. G.
The Physics of Nuclear Reactors: British Journal of Applied Physics, Supplement No. 5. 1956.122 pp., 25s. THEYvolume contains the complete record of the papers presented at the Institute of Physics Conference in London from 3 to 6 July 1956, together with reports of the discussion on each session. The best way to describe the scope of the volume is to list the titles of the papers: (1) Scientific problems in the development of nuclear power-by Sir JOHN COCKCROFT. (2) The physics of advanced reactors-by J. R. DIETRICH. (3) Experimental reactor physics-by P. W. MUMMERY. (4) The zero-energy fast breeder reactor Zephyr-by L. R. SHEPHERD. (5) The effects of irradiation on the physical properties of solids-by A. H. COITRELL. (6) Shielding of reactors-by G. C. LAURENCE. (7) The control of reactors-by A. J. SALMON. (8) The instrumentation of reactors-by W. MACRAE. (9) The role of chemistry in a nuclear energy project-by R. SPENCE. (10) The role of metallurgy in a nuclear energy project-by L. RO~ERHAM. (11) The Canadian research reactors and their uses-by W. B. L~wrs. (12) The United Kingdom research reactors-by F. W. FENNING. These papers are presented by leading workers in the various fields considered, and this is reflected The opening address by Sir JOHN COCKCROF~is in authoritative and comprehensive treatments. indeed a masterpiece, giving a vivid picture of the present state in the art of providing fundamental data for the reactor designer. That much has been done is obvious but the urgent need for much more to be achieved is keenly realized. Following the introduction, the remaining papers (the titles listed above are self-explanatory) give greater detail of the problems and the theoretical and experimental techniques available for their solution, together with reports on some major research projects being conducted on both sides of the Atlantic. It is very convenient to have this wide variety of material, much of it published for the first time, under one cover. The references are very complete and up to date, and the discussions are well reported. Here it is worth highlighting the excellent contribution by LITTLEand SCHULTZon temperature effects, thermal delays, and stability. Limitation of space prevents a detailed criticism of each paper. However, mention must be made of the extremely high standard demonstrated in the papers by DIETRICHand C!~‘ITRELL.Every paper is well worthy of study, particularly for those engaged in the field of reactor physics, for whom this
54
Book reviews
volume is a “must.” There are, of course, a few points with which one would perhaps disagree, but, in most cases, such differences appear to be based upon personal opinion rather than on verifiable factual information. From the point of view of the users of the information obtained from research work, it seems unfortunate that, ahhough the physics of nuclear reactors here includes most of the allied subjects, heat transfer was not separately included, particularly as other economic considerations are discussed. G. M. I.
ANNOUNCEMENT AUGUST20-22, 1957, Northwestern University will hold a conference on Liquid Scintillation Counting at the Technological Institute, Evanston, Illinois. A wide range of topics on the theory and application of liquid scintillators is covered by invited papers : Coincidence counters, single-channel counters, chemistry of liquid scintillators, and applications in biology and medicine, industry, archaeology, physics, chemistry, and engineering. Abstracts of non-solicited papers should be sent to the Program Chairman, Dr. F. NEWTONHAYES,Los Alamos, New Mexico, by June 1, 1957.