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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Anisia Bornea, M. Peculea, M. Zamfirache, Carmen Varlam
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 48 | Number 1 | July-August 2005 | Pages 116-119
Technical Paper | Tritium Science and Technology - Tritium Science and Technology - Detritiation, Purification, and Isotope Separation | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A892
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The processes for hydrogen isotope's separation are very important for nuclear technology. One of the most important processes for tritium separation, is the catalyst isotope exchange water-hydrogen.Our catalytic package consists of Romanian patented catalysts with platinum on charcoal and polytetrafluoretylene (Pt/C/PTFE) and the ordered Romanian patented package B7 type. The catalytic package was tested in an isotope exchange facility for water detritiation at the Experimental Pilot Plant from ICIT Rm.Valcea.In a column of isotope exchange tritium is transferred from liquid phase (tritiated heavy water) in gaseous phase (hydrogen). In the experimental set-up, which was used, the column of catalytic isotope exchange is filled with successive layers of catalyst and ordered package. The catalyst consists of 95.5 wt.% of PTFE, 4.1 wt. % of carbon and 0.40 wt. % of platinum and was of Raschig rings 10 × 10 × 2 mm. The ordered package was B7 type consists of wire mesh phosphor bronze 4 × 1 wire and the mesh dimension is 0.18 × 0.48 mm.We analyzed the transfer phenomena of tritium from liquid to gaseous phase, in this system.The mass transfer coefficient which characterized the isotopic exchange on the package, were determined as function of experimental parameters.