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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.
Frederick G. Hammitt, M. John Robinson, and J. F. Lafferty
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 29 | Number 1 | July 1967 | Pages 131-142
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE67-A17815
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Two theoretical models to predict axial pressure distribution, void fraction, and velocity in a cavitating venturi are applied. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data from cold-water and mercury tests, and good agreement for the pressure profiles is found. The predicted void fractions are found to be too high, probably because the models assume zero slip or negative slip between the vapor and liquid phases. The analogy between the cavitating venturi and other choked-flow regimes is explored. One of the theoretical models used is based on the assumption that the cavitating venturi is essentially entirely analogous to a deLaval nozzle operating in a choked-flow regime with a compressible gas. The cavitating venturi is an example of an extremely low quality two-phase choked flow device. The present study is thus somewhat applicable to the study of liquid-cooled nuclear reactor pressure vessel or piping ruptures, which have received considerable attention in recent years. However, the qualities encountered in the present cavitation case are an order of magnitude lower than those usually considered for the reactor safety analyses, so that the present study is a limiting case for these.