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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.
Dirk Gombert II
Nuclear Technology | Volume 108 | Number 1 | October 1994 | Pages 90-99
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A35045
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A soil sample from the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory was physically and chemically characterized, then sequentially extracted to determine if soil washing could be effectively used to remove cesium, cobalt, and chromium. The contaminant distribution did not correlate with surface area or any particular crystalline phase. However, the transition metals did appear to be coincident with the matrix transition metals, iron and manganese. This finding was verified by sequential-extraction data, which showed that most of the cobalt and chromium was extracted by destroying the soil hydrated metal-oxide phases. Unfortunately, <20% of the cesium was extractable even after dissolving >20% of the soil mass. The low recovery of cesium, the primary risk-driver, eliminated extractive soil washing from further consideration for this site.