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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.
Tetsuo Tamaoki, Takuhiko Sakai, Hiroshi Endo, Kazuo Haga, Ryoichi Takahashi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 99 | Number 1 | July 1992 | Pages 58-69
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34703
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Delayed neutron noise measurements were carried out in an in-pile sodium loop, the Fission Product Loop 2 (FPL-2), installed on the Toshiba Training Reactor I. To clarify the characteristics and origin of delayed neutron count rate noise, a noise propagation mechanism was identified using a multivariate autoregressive model. The results show that a simulated fuel failure in the FPL-2, with recoil as the principal fission product release phenomena, produces a white spectrum of delayed neutron count rate noise. It was also found that the loop temperature fluctuation strongly affects the delayed neutron count rate noise at temperatures below 300°C, through the deposition of fission products on the surface of structures. These results provide useful information for the development of an early fuel failure detection method based on the delayed neutron signal.