Nuclear Reactor Physics (First edition)

An authoritative textbook and up-to-date professional's guide to basic and advanced principles and practices Nuclear reactors now account for a significant portion of the electrical power generated worldwide. At the same time, the past few decades have seen an ever-increasing number of industrial, medical, military, and research applications for nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactor physics is the core discipline of nuclear engineering, and as the first comprehensive textbook and reference on basic and advanced nuclear reactor physics to appear in a quarter century, this book fills a large gap in the professional literature. Nuclear Reactor Physics is a textbook for students new to the subject, for others who need a basic understanding of how nuclear reactors work, as well as for those who are, or wish to become, specialists in nuclear reactor physics and reactor physics computations. It is also a valuable resource for engineers responsible for the operation of nuclear reactors. Dr. Weston Stacey begins with clear presentations of the basic physical principles, nuclear data, and computational methodology needed to understand both the static and dynamic behaviors of nuclear reactors. This is followed by in-depth discussions of advanced concepts, including extensive treatment of neutron transport computational methods. As an aid to comprehension and quick mastery of computational skills, he provides numerous examples illustrating step-by-step procedures for performing the calculations described and chapter-end problems. Nuclear Reactor Physics is a useful textbook and working reference. It is an excellent self-teaching guide for research scientists, engineers, and technicians involved in industrial, research, and military applications of nuclear reactors, as well as government regulators who wish to increase their understanding of nuclear reactors. NUCLEAR REACTOR PHYSICS......Page 3 CONTENTS......Page 7 PREFACE......Page 25 PART 1 Basic Reactor Physics......Page 29 1 Neutron Nuclear Reactions......Page 31 2 Neutron Chain Fission Reactors......Page 63 3 Neutron Diffusion Theory......Page 73 4 Neutron Energy Distribution......Page 123 5 Nuclear Reactor Dynamics......Page 167 6 Fuel Burnup......Page 223 7 Nuclear Power Reactors......Page 271 8 Reactor Safety......Page 299 PART 2 Advanced Reactor Physics......Page 321 9 Neutron Transport Theory......Page 323 10 Neutron Slowing Down......Page 407 1 1 Resonance Absorption......Page 439 12 Neutron Therrnalization......Page 479 13 Perturbation and Variational Methods......Page 509 14 Homogenization......Page 541 15 Nodal and Synthesis Methods......Page 569 16 Space-Time Neutron Kinetics......Page 627 APPENDIX A Physical Constants and Nuclear Data......Page 699 APPENDIX B Some Useful Mathematical Formulas......Page 705 APPENDIX C Step Functions, Delta Functions,and Other Functions......Page 707 APPENDIX D Some Properties of Special Functions......Page 711 APPENDIX E Introduction to Matrices and Matrix Algebra......Page 717 APPENDIX F Introduction to Laplace Transforms......Page 721 INDEX......Page 727 This title provides problems and examples and offers a solutions manual. It provides a comprehensive treatment of the physical principles that determine the behaviour of nuclear reactors and presents computational methods of reactor physics analysis.