文档介绍：To Ann
Preface
This text is intended as a first course in the physics of nuclear
reactors. It is designed to be appropriate as an introduction to reactor
theory within an undergraduate nuclear engineering curriculum, as
well as for a stand-alone course that can be taken by undergraduates
in mechanical, electrical, or other fields of engineering who have not
had a previous background in nuclear energy. Likewise, it is planned
to be useful to practicing engineers from a variety of disciplines
whose professional responsibilities call for familiarity with the phy-
sics of nuclear reactors.
Why a new book on reactor physics when a number of legacy
texts are still in print? The better of these are well written, and since
the fundamentals of the subject were already worked out at the time
of their publication, they remain useful today. My conviction, how-
ever, is that for today’s undergraduates and practicing engineers an
introduction to reactor physics is better presented through both reor-
ganizing and refocusing the material of earlier texts, and in doing that
emphasizing the characteristics of modern power reactors.
Earlier textbooks monly have begun with the relevant
nuclear physics and neutron interactions, and then presented a
detailed treatment of neutron slowing down and diffusion in homo-
geneous mixtures of materials. Only in the latter parts of such texts
does the analysis of the all-important time-dependent behavior of
fissionable systems appear, and the dependence of criticality on lat-
tice structures of reactor cores typically is late in receiving attention.
To some extent such a progression is necessary for the logical devel-
opment of the subject. However, both in teaching undergraduates and
in offering continuing education instruction for practicing engineers,
I have found it advantageous to present a quantitative but more
general overview early in the text, while deferring where possible
more detailed analysis, and also