Increasing the rated capacity of power units installed at Russian nuclear power stations equipped with VVER-1000 reactors

Safe operation of the Balakovo nuclear power station’s Unit 2 built around a VVER-1000 reactor at a thermal power output of 3120 MW with meeting of the safety criteria and compliance with the requirements of existing regulatory documents is substantiated. Results from measurements of process parameters at a power output equal to 104% of its nominal value are presented.     

The Effect of Sintering Temperature in Bi1.7Pb0.2Sb0.1Sr2Ca2Cu3O y Superconductors

In this study, the effects of sintering temperature on the Bi-2223 phase formation and the influence of minor phases on the intergranular properties of Sb substituted Bi-2223 samples were investigated. The samples were prepared by solid-state reaction method with different sintering temperatures ranging from 800 to 855 °C. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and density measurements. We observed the optimal temperature of the Sb + Pb substituted Bi-2223 system as 845 °C.     

The results of investigations and prospects for using miniature ampoules of fixed points to reproduce and transfer a temperature scale

The advantages and prospects for using miniature ampoules to transfer and reproduce the temperature scale are considered.     

X-ray resonant Raman scattering from noble gas atoms and beyond

We discuss general characteristics of the resonant X-ray scattering and briefly illustrate its applications in atomic, molecular and solid state physics by a few selected examples. The Ljubljana high resolution spectrometer set-up is presented, which was recently employed at ELETTRA and ESRF synchrotron beamlines to study X-ray emission of inner-shell excited states of xenon and argon, and of simple sulfur containing molecules and solid compounds.     

Critical heat flux in a boiling aqueous dispersion of nanoparticles

The effect of nanoparticles in an aqueous dispersion (nanofluid) on the critical heat flux (CHF) removed by boiling liquid from a heat-exchange surface has been studied. It is shown that a nanoparticles layer formed on the heated surface in the course of boiling possesses a hierarchical structure. Hydrophilic properties of this layer and its high permeability facilitating the supply of liquid to vapor bubbles lead to an increase in the CHF density.     

Generation of uniform magnetic field using a single-layer solenoid with multi-current method

The magnetic field of a single-layer solenoid (length L=1020 mm, average radius R=114.67 mm, pitch p=1.0001 mm and wire diameter d=0.799 mm) with a multi-current method was calculated to improve the uniformity and optimized by using Legendre polynomials. The optimum conditions obtained by the calculations for the uniform magnetic field lead to insensitive magnetic field with respect to the radius variations. Therefore, the uncertainty of the generated magnetic field within ±2 cm from the center of the solenoid amounts to about 1 × 10⁻⁷ normalized by the central magnetic field. The solenoid coil constant was measured to be 1.2548214 mT/A obtained under compensation of the Earth’s magnetic field in 25 °C air.