Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Physics

Robert E. Masterson (1950-2020) held MS and PhD degrees in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he worked for Westinghouse Nuclear Energy Systems. He was an Affiliate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr. Masterson published extensively in the journals of the ANS and had over 20 years of experience in the field of nuclear science and engineering. He had an extensive background in the fields of reactor safety, reactor design and analysis, reactor thermal hydraulics, numerical analysis, reactor physics, reactor dynamics, nuclear medicine, and nuclear particle transport. He was a member of the American Nuclear Society. His first textbook with CRC Press, Nuclear Engineering Fundamentals: A Practical Perspective, was published in 2017.

1. Nuclear Power in the World Today 2. Neutrons and Other Important Particles of Reactor Physics 3. Nuclear Particles, Processes, and Reactions 4. Nuclear Cross Sections, Reaction Probabilities, and Reaction Rates 5. Cross Section Libraries and Sources of Practical Nuclear Data 6. Nuclear Fuels, Nuclear Structure, the Mass Defect, and Radioactive Decay 7. Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Energy Production 8. Neutron Slowing Down Theory, Neutron Moderators, and Reactor Coolants 9. The Neutron Multiplication Factor, the Reactivity, and the Four-Factor Formula 10. Neutron Leakage, Reactor Criticality, and the Six-Factor Formula 11. An Introduction to Neutron Diffusion Theory and Fick’s Law of Diffusion 12. Multigroup Neutron Diffusion Theory 13. Solutions to the Steady-State Neutron Diffusion Equation 14. Solving the Neutron Diffusion Equation with a Radioactive Source Term 15. Time-Dependent Reactors and Their Behavior 16. The Point Kinetics Approximation and the Inhour Equation 17. Burnup, Depletion, and Temperature Feedback 18. Long-Term Changes to the Reactivity of the Core 19. Fuel Assembly Homogenization and Reaction Rate Conservation 20. Control Rods, Burnable Poisons, and Chemical Shim 21. Fission Products, Xenon Transients, and Reactor Accidents 22. An Introduction to Neutron Transport Theory 23. The Monte Carlo Method and Its Applications to Nuclear Science and Engineering