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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.
Leonardo Romero, Luis Moreno, Ivars Neretnieks
Nuclear Technology | Volume 113 | Number 3 | March 1996 | Pages 316-326
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35211
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Radionuclides leaking from a damaged canister spread into the clay surrounding the canister and then migrate through various pathways into the mobile water in the rock fractures. To quantify uncertainties regarding the release to the far field, a sensitivity analysis is performed for variations in the parameters governing the release. Variations in the size of the damage in the canister, uranium solubility, sorption capacity of the clay, and hydraulic properties of the fractured rock nearest to the canister have to be accurately determined in order to minimize uncertainties in the release.