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INL reports findings on unusual quantum behavior of plutonium
Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory have discovered that plutonium hexaboride (PuB6) displays a type of unusual quantum property called a topological Kondo insulating state. Materials with this property are neither typical electricity conductors nor regular insulators. Rather, they have exterior surfaces that strongly conduct electricity and interiors that block electricity.
Tadashi Fujii, Yoshiyuki Kataoka, Michio Murase, Kenji Tominaga
Nuclear Technology | Volume 112 | Number 1 | October 1995 | Pages 122-131
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A15857
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A water-wall-type passive containment cooling system, which has an outer pool (O/P) outside the suppression pool (S/P), is one passive safety system for the next generation reactors. It utilizes the steel containment vessel wall as a heat transfer medium between the S/P and O/P. /Is a measure to improve heat removal capability, the authors propose introduction of a baffle plate. The baffle plate can mitigate thermal stratification and enlarge the high-temperature region in the S/P. In particular, a hybrid baffle plate utilizes the structure wall by setting up local flow holes and enhances the natural circulation in the S/P through these holes. To clarify the effects of the configurations of the flow holes, thermal-hydraulic behavior has been examined. 1. The circumferential temperature difference in the outside region of the baffle plate was <2°C even though the flow hole area fraction was 10%. 2. The efficiency of the hybrid baffle plate saturated when the flow hole area fraction was >20%. 3. The maximum efficiency was obtained when the ratio of the depth between the vent tube outlet and the lower flow holes to the height between the vent tube outlet and the upper flow holes was ∼0.7.