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Undeclared uranium hitches a ride on cobalt exports from Congo, study says
Philippe (left) and Manzuk quantified the amount of uranium that has been exported from the DRC in cobalt shipments or left behind in the environment. (Photo: Joel Hallberg/UW–Madison)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Princeton University have published a study in Nature Communications that calls attention to a blind spot in nuclear nonproliferation: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has exported thousands of metric tons of uranium, and there is no accounting for where it has gone.
In partnership with Lighthouse Reports and the Financial Times, UW–Madison nuclear engineering professor and nuclear security expert Sébastien Philippe and Ryan Manzuk, a geologist and research fellow in Philippe’s group and at Princeton, conducted the study using countrywide mineralization and geochemical data.
Jun Li, Xiao-Bin Tang, Long-Gang Gui, Yun Ge, Ying Chen, Da Chen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 195 | Number 1 | July 2016 | Pages 79-86
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-72
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An off-line boron meter in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant has the disadvantages of lagging data measurements and a long response time. This paper aims to shorten the response time and enhance the measurement accuracy of this type of device. First, the shortcomings of off-line boron meters were analyzed and the serpentuator system was proposed to replace the typical container system. Then, both FLUENT and GEANT simulation tools were used to demonstrate the merits of the serpentuator system. FLUENT was used to simulate the fluid response, while GEANT4 was used to obtain the f(P) curve. The simulation results from FLUENT indicate that the residence time of the fluid in the container system was approximately 9.5 times that in the serpentuator system. The simulation results obtained from GEANT4 manifest that the f(P) curve of the rectangular section was steeper than for the circular section. When the polyethylene was 8 cm thick, the f(P) curve was the steepest. Compared with a serpentuator made of titanium alloy, stainless steel, and brass, a serpentuator made of zirconium alloy or aluminum alloy achieved a steeper f(P) curve. Therefore, the serpentuator system is more applicable for PWRs using an off-line boron letdown through a chemical and volume control system.