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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Disease-resistant cauliflower created through nuclear science
International Atomic Energy Agency researchers have helped scientists on the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius to develop a variety of cauliflower that is resistant to black rot disease. The cauliflower was developed through innovative radiation-induced plant-breeding techniques employed by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.
Stephen A. Birdsell, R. Scott Willms, Richard C. Wilhelm
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 905-910
Fuel Cycle and Tritium Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963053
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A 2-stage cold (non-tritium) PMR system was tested with the ITER mix* in 61 days of continuous operation. No decrease in performance was observed over the duration of the test. Decontamination factor (DF) was found to increase with decreasing inlet rate. Decontamination factors in excess of 1.4×105 were obtained, but the exact value of the highest DF could not be determined because of analysis limitations.
Results of the 61-day test were used to design a 2-stage PMR system for use in tritium testing. The PMR system was scaled up by a factor of 6 and built into a glovebox in the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. This system is approximately 1/5th of the expected full ITER scale. The ITER mix was injected into the PMR system for 31 hours, during which 4.5 g of tritium were processed. The 1st stage had DF =200 and the 2nd stage had DF=2.9×106. The overall DF=5.8×108, which is greater than ITER requirements.
