50,424 research outputs found
Gamma radiation characteristics of plutonium dioxide fuel
Investigation of plutonium dioxide as an isotopic fuel for Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators yielded the isotopic composition of production-grade plutonium dioxide fuel, sources of gamma radiation produced by plutonium isotopes, and the gamma flux at the surface
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Plutonium-Xenon systematics of Angrites
Introduction: Angrites are igneous meteorites that crystallized very early in the solar system, ~10 Ma after CAIs, as also implied by the presence of now extinct short-lived radionuclides such as 53Mn, 146Sm and 244Pu [1]. Fission Xe was used to calculate 244Pu-136Xeretention ages of eucrites, relative to that of Angra dos Reis (AdoR) [2]. AdoR has an absolute Pb-Pb age of 4557.8 Ma [see 1 for ref.]. Most eucrites, being as old as angrites, experienced various parent body processes leading to ages ranging from ~20 Ma before, to ~100 Ma after AdoR [2]. Angrites, however, remained largely unaltered after differentiation. Here, we examine whether Xe isotopic characteristics
allow determining an age sequence for angrites
Magnesium-zinc reduction is effective in preparation of metals
Uranium, thorium, and plutonium are effectively prepared by magnesium-zinc reduction, using uranium oxides, thorium dioxide, and plutonium dioxide as starting materials. This technique is also useful in performing reduction of metals such as zirconium and titanium
Sintering characteristics and properties of PuS and PuP are determined
Report on the preparation of plutonium monosulphide and plutonium monophosphide includes a description of the sintering characteristics and properties of these high-temperature compounds. data on weight loss, microstructure, density, melting point, thermal expansion, microhardness, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal diffusion are included
The Debye-Waller factor of stabilized delta-Pu
The Debye-Waller factor has been calculated for stabilized delta-phase
plutonium with 5% aluminum. A quasi-harmonic Born-von Karman force model with
temperature dependent phonon frequencies was used to calculate the mean-square
thermal atomic displacement from absolute zero to 800 K. Implementation of the
observed anomalous softening of the long wavelength phonons with increasing
temperature cannot account for the softening of the measured thermal parameter
at high temperatures nor for its rather high value at low temperatures. The
implications for diffraction measurements on delta-phase stabilized plutonium
alloys are discussed.Comment: Presented at the conference Plutonium Futures - The Science 200
Quantum Criticality and the Alpha/Delta Puzzle
In this paper we suggest a novel explanation for the alpha-delta transition
in plutonium based on an analogy between the evolution of the actinide ground
state as a function of spin orbit coupling and the behaviour of thin film
superconductors in a magnetic field. The key point is that in metals with a low
carrier density spin-orbit interactions give rise to low energy monopole-like
solitons with quantized spin currents, which play much the same role as
Abrikosov vortices in thin film superconductors. In alpha-plutonium these
solitons form an ordered solid, while in impurity stabilized delta-plutonium
they form a pair condensate.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
Processes for metal extraction
This report describes the processing of plutonium at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and operation illustrating concepts that may be applicable to the processing of lunar materials. The toxic nature of plutonium requires a highly closed system for processing lunar surface materials
Some neutron and gamma radiation characteristics of plutonium cermet fuel for isotopic power sources
Gamma and neutron measurements on various types of plutonium sources are presented in order to show the effects of O-17, O-18 F-19, Pu-236, age of the fuel, and size of the source on the gamma and neutron spectra. Analysis of the radiation measurements shows that fluorine is the main contributor to the neutron yields from present plutonium-molybdenum cermet fuel, while both fluorine and Pu-236 daughters contribute significantly to the gamma ray intensities
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