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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.
K. Michael Goff, Alfred Schneider, James E. Battles
Nuclear Technology | Volume 102 | Number 3 | June 1993 | Pages 331-340
Technical Paper | Enrichment and Reprocessing System | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A17032
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The reprocessing of spent fuel from the Integral Fast Reactor is to be accomplished with a pyrochemical process employing molten LiCl-KCl salt covering a pool of cadmium. An examination of this system demonstrates that cadmium metal is soluble to a small extent in this salt and that it diffuses through the salt covering and vaporizes at the surface. The cadmium is soluble in the salt because of either chemical or physical solubility, both of which are dependent on the salt’s surface tension. Mixing increases the vaporization rate of the cadmium by increasing its transport to the salt surface. The cadmium vapors can therefore be reduced by decreasing the mixing conditions, by choosing a salt with a higher surface tension so that the cadmium is less soluble, or by decreasing the temperature of the system, thereby lowering the vapor pressure of the cadmium.