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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 Inoue, Masahiro Sakata, Hajime Miyashiro, Tetsuo Matsumura, Akihiro Sasahara, Nobuya Yoshiki
Nuclear Technology | Volume 93 | Number 2 | February 1991 | Pages 206-220
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34506
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
High-level radioactive wastes from the Purex process contain long-lived nuclides, which mainly consist of transuranic elements (TRUs). A partitioning and transmutation method that consists of pyrometallurgical partitioning of TRUs from Purex waste from light water reactor fuel and transmutation using a metal-fueled fast breeder reactor (FBR) is evaluated. The results indicate that the concept is feasible and has many advantages over conventional concepts based on wet processes and that transmutation of TRUs in a metal-fueled FBR is advantageous over that in a oxide-fueled FBR.