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Chernobyl at 40 years: Looking back at Nuclear News
Sunday, April 26, at 1:23 a.m. local time will mark 40 years since the most severe nuclear accident in history: the meltdown of Unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
In the ensuing four decades, countless books, documentaries, articles, and conference sessions have examined Chernobyl’s history and impact from various angles. There is a similar abundance of outlooks in the archives of Nuclear News, where hundreds of scientists, advocates, critics, and politicians have shared their thoughts on Chernobyl over the years. Today, we will take a look at some highlights from the pages of NN to see how the story of Chernobyl evolved over the decades.
A. S. Ivanova, A. N. Bukin, S. A. Marunich, Yu. S. Pak, A. N. Perevezentsev, M. B. Rozenkevich
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 1 | January 2019 | Pages 24-35
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2018.1499396
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Operation of atmosphere detritiation systems during fire in confinement sector with tritium inventory at risk presents a concern for catalytic reactor to operate in thermally unstable regime. Catalytic oxidation of organic compounds commonly released during fire occurs through reactions with high heat effect and can cause uncontrollable increasing temperature in reactor. Under certain conditions self-ignition of fume gas will start and continue in regime of gas-phase reaction at very high temperature with flame propagating in direction opposite to gas flow. As a result, catalytic reactor loses its operability and presents an intrinsic hazard for atmosphere detritiation system. This study assesses the impact of various parameters, such as heat effect, rate and activation energy of catalytic chemical reaction, and concentration of hydrocarbons on probability of catalytic reactor falling into thermally unstable regime. Experimental tests with catalytic oxidation of fume gases produced by combustion of polymeric insulation materials of electrical cables confirmed results of the assessment and allowed to identify conditions for catalytic reactor to operate in thermally unstable regime. To mitigate the probability of such event, arrangement for catalytic reactors in atmosphere detritiation system shall be changed. Various options are reviewed.