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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.
C. Ganguly, G. J. Prasad, K. N. Mahule, J. K. Ghosh, K. V. J. Asari, K. N. P. Chandrasekharan, S. Muralidhar, T. S. Balan, P. R. Roy
Nuclear Technology | Volume 96 | Number 1 | October 1991 | Pages 72-83
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A35534
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Aluminum-clad Al-20 wt% 233 U and Al-23 wt% Pu plate fuel subassemblies have been fabricated for the Purnima III critical facility and the Kamini research reactor. The fabrication flow sheet consists of preparing the master alloy using aluminum and uranium or plutonium metals as feed materials, remelting and casting the fuel alloy ingots, rolling, picture framing and sandwiching the fuel alloy between aluminum sheets, roll bonding, locating the fuel alloy core outline by X-ray radiography, and trimming and machining to final dimensions. Metallic molds produce better ingots than graphite ones. The addition of zirconium during melting improves the microstructure of the Al-U and Al-Pu castings and facilitates hot rolling of the ingots. In the subassembly the fuel plates are finally locked in aluminum spacer grooves by a novel roll-swaging technique. High-resolution X-ray radiographs and microdensitometric scans are utilized to confirm the homogeneous distribution of the fissile material in the fuel plates. Nonbond areas are detected by blister testing and immersion ultrasonic testing of the roll-bonded fuel plates.