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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.
Esko H. Tusa, Asko Paavola, Risto Harjula, Jukka Lehto
Nuclear Technology | Volume 107 | Number 3 | September 1994 | Pages 279-284
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A35008
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
At the Loviisa Nuclear Power Station (NPS) all liquid waste, i.e., spent resins and evaporator concentrates, have been stored in a large tank storage facility. Dominating radionuclides in the evaporator concentrates have been 134Cs and 137Cs. By removing cesium from the waste, purified liquid can be released within licensed release limits, and cobalt as a second dominating nuclide is left in a small waste volume on the bottom of the tank. Since 1985, the use of inorganic hexacyanoferrate-based materials for purification of cesium has been studied. A full-scale system for cesium removal, called the IVO-CsTreat System, was constructed in 1990 to 1991. A method to produce the ion exchanger in granular form in industrial scale was developed, and the facility to produce it was constructed. The ion exchange material was produced in 1991, and the full-scale purification facility was commissioned at the Loviisa NPS in October 1991. In the test run, 253 m3 of concentrate was purified between October 31, 1991 and June 11, 1992 with three ion exchange columns, each with a volume of 8 ℓ. A volume reduction factor of over 10000 was achieved as the ratio of liquid and ion exchanger volume. The decontamination factor for cesium was ∼2000.