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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.
Xuelong Fu, Jie Tao, Dunwen Zuo
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 194 | Number 1 | January 2020 | Pages 69-83
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2019.1654328
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
B4C/CF/PI/AA6061 hybrid composite laminates (BCPAs) with different configurations were fabricated using a hot molding process and then were irradiated by a 60Co gamma ray with various doses (250, 500, 750, and 1000 kGy) under ambient conditions. The effects of gamma irradiation on the morphological, physical, and thermal properties of the BCPAs were evaluated correspondingly. It was shown that the specimens maintained good interfacial adhesion even after gamma irradiation up to 1000 kGy and that no obvious delamination, swelling, and surface irradiation damage could be observed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of the BCPAs after gamma irradiation indicated no obvious discrepancy when compared with that of nonirradiated specimens. The specimens still maintained good thermal stability with the experimental temperature up to 400°C. When the specimens were gamma irradiated with the dose of 750 kGy, the thermal stability of the BCPAs was optimal. Polyimide resin under gamma irradiation was inclined to form free radicals close to each other and underwent radiation decomposition, a chain scission and cross-linking reaction, and a secondary cross-linking reaction. By analyzing the C-C bond, C-O bond, and C = O bond in the C1s spectrum, the relative intensity of the C = O bond decreased with the irradiation dose; moreover, gamma irradiation caused the decomposition of a certain amount of the oxygen functional group C = O.