Nuclear Science and Engineering / Volume 7 / Number 5 / May 1960 / Pages 472-475
Technical Paper / dx.doi.org/10.13182/NSE60-4
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A theoretical treatment is given of the statistical fluctuations in neutron population which occur in nuclear reactors. The absolute magnitude and frequency dependence of the spectral density of these fluctuations is obtained. The model used assumes that the fluctuations arise from a “noise-equivalent source” whose strength can be easily calculated from fundamental considerations. Calculations are also presented of the fundamental statistical errors in criticality measurements.