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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.
Alecsei Sorokin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 72 | Number 3 | December 1979 | Pages 330-346
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE79-A20389
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Chemically reactive nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4 ⇌ 2NO2 ⇌ 2NO + O2) is discussed as a possible working fluid for power-producing thermodynamic cycles. Computation of the thermodynamic properties of the dissociating N2O4 system in liquid and gas phases is based on Soviet sources, since the most extensive research has been carried on at the Institute for Nuclear Energy in Byelorussia, where N2O4 is proposed as a coolant for fast-neutron gas reactors. Kinetics of the chemical reactions are considered by comparison between cycle parameters with equilibrium working fluid in all plant components and computations with frozen second reaction in the turbines. The results of the research, and the pros and cons of the system from the thermodynamic point of view, are discussed in the conclusion.