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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.
Kazuo Minato, Hironobu Kikuchi, Kousaku Fukuda, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Hiroshi Tomimoto, Nobu Kitamura, Mitsunobu Kaneko
Nuclear Technology | Volume 106 | Number 3 | June 1994 | Pages 342-349
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34964
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Internal flaws in the silicon carbide (SiC) coating of fuel particles have been characterized. The internal flaws of the SiC coating were seen as external discolored spots. The porous flaws formed circumferentially during SiC deposition. These flaws may have a harmful effect on the mechanical integrity and the diffusion barrier of the particle. The SiC coating experiments were performed under systematically selected conditions to study the mechanism of flaw formation. The most important factor influencing flaw formation was found to be the mode of particle fluidization. Internal flaws were eliminated from the particles fabricated in a mass-production coater by controlling particle fluidization.