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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
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.