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Texas A&M welcomes uranium conversion research
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) has signed a research agreement with Quantum Leap Energy (QLE) “to advance and de-risk the commercial production of high-purity uranium hexafluoride (UF6).”
QLE is an Austin, Texas–based subsidiary of ASP Isotopes (ASPI), which is developing an isotope enrichment platform for applications in nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, and semiconductors. QLE specializes in the uranium conversion step of the nuclear fuel cycle—the conversion of yellowcake uranium concentrate (U3O8) into UF6 prior to enrichment.
Nicola Rizzi, Jose I. Marquez Damian, Thomas Kittelmann, Bent Lauritzen, Esben Klinkby, Quentin Estiez, Valentina Santoro
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 1 | January 2024 | Pages 92-100
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2196926
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nanodiamonds have attracted attention in recent years for their exceptional albedo of slow neutrons. Several theoretical models have been proposed to compute the total elastic cross section. However, these models neglect the relatively complex internal structure and chemical composition of the diamond nanoparticles, relying often on the monodisperse structureless spheres approximation. In this work, we explore the possibility of adding the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) process for nanodiamonds to NCrystal, a library that enables calculations for Monte Carlo simulations of neutrons in polycrystalline materials and powders. This approach aims to describe the scattering process also at neutron wavelengths below the diamond Bragg cutoff where simple models usually struggle. The extension relies on modeling the SANS process through the fitting of experimental data as well as theoretical inputs. The code can then be coupled with an existing simulation framework, such as McStas, and benchmarked in different setups. We tested the plugin for two properties of diamond powder nanoparticles: the backward reflection of very cold neutrons and the quasispecular reflections of cold neutrons. The validation of this simulation tool is intended to pave the way for the design of the beam extraction system for a future high-intensity cold neutron moderator at the European Spallation Source.