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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.
Peter H. Royl, James E. Cahalan, Günter Friedel, Günter Kussmaul, Jean Moreau, Maurice Perks, Roald A. Wigeland
Nuclear Technology | Volume 97 | Number 2 | February 1992 | Pages 198-211
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34616
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In a cooperative effort among European and U.S. analysts, an assessment of the comparative safety performance of metal and oxide fuels during accidents in a 3500-MW(thermal), pool-type, liquid-metal-cooled reactor (LMR) is performed. The study focuses on three accident initiators with failure to scram: the unprotected loss-of-flow (ULOF), the unprotected transient overpower, and the unprotected loss-of-heat-sink (ULOHS). Core designs with a similar power output that have been previously analyzed in Europe under ULOF accident conditions are also included in this comparison. Emphasis is placed on identification of design features that provide passive, self-limiting responses to postulated accident conditions and quantification of relative safety margins. The analyses show that in ULOF and ULOHS sequences, metal-fueled LMRs with pool-type primary systems provide larger temperature margins to coolant boiling than do oxide-fueled reactors of the same design.