Self-fueling (<Superscript>233</Superscript>U) regime for a CANDU heavy-water power reactor

The possibility of using a thorium-uranium fuel cycle efficiently with a CANDU heavy-water power reactor is examined. A computational investigation of two operating regimes of the reactor is performed. It demonstrated that it is possible in practice to accumulate the required amount of ²³³U at the first stage of operation by burning a certain amount of power-grade plutonium or enriched uranium. It is shown that using only ²³³U accumulations it is possible to operate a high-capacity power reactor in a self-fueling regime for a long time (up to 20 or more years). Substantiation of the regime is based only on the CANDU power reactor technology which has been perfected in practice.Translated from Atomnaya Ènergiya, Vol. 97, No. 4, pp. 269–275, October, 2004.     

A Multichannel Automatized System for Measuring Current Pulses in the LIA-30 Electron Accelerator

In the LIA-30 high-power linear pulsed induction electron accelerator (40 MeV, 100 kA, 25 ns), the energy is stored, and pulses of the accelerating voltage are shaped by 288 water-insulated radial lines arranged in succession along a common air-free acceleration channel. The lines are simultaneously charged up to 500 kV from 72 shielded Marx generators. To measure the parameters (amplitude, pulse shape, pulse rise time, pulse fall time, and pulse duration) of the synchronized pulses of the charging current with amplitudes as high as 60 kA and duration of 0.85 s in each of the 72 charging circuits, an automatized measuring system is used. The current pulse is sensed at the output of each generator by a self-integrating Rogovsky coil galvanically isolated from the generator. The signal from the coil is transmitted over a cable to an analog-to-digital converter, sampled with a period of 50 ns, and recorded in memory. Upon operating the accelerator, the signals are reproduced in succession or selectively on the display screen, and their shapes are compared to the shape of a standard pulse.     

Investigation into the Pyrolysis of Medical Waste in a Fixed-Bed Reactor

Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics - An experimental investigation has been conducted into the pyrolysis of typical medical waste components in a fixed-bed reactor with a view to...     

Influence of the size and charge of nonstoichiometric silver sulfide nanoparticles on their interaction with blood cells

Silver sulfide (Ag₂S) nanoparticles synthesized using different precursors have been characterized by dynamic light scattering measurements and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. In addition to Ag₂S nanoparticles, we have detected Ag₂S/Ag heterostructures. Using optical microscopy, we have examined interaction of the nanoparticles with red cells of peripheral blood. The results of the interaction have been shown to depend on the particle size and charge. A red cell solution containing large, negatively charged particles coagulated, whereas small, positively charged Ag₂S nanoparticles were concentrated around red cells.     

A terahertz scanning near-field optical microscope with an attenuated total internal reflection module

The first terahertz scanning near-field optical microscope with an attenuated total internal reflection module and a free-electron laser (FEL) as the radiation source was developed. A scanning system with positioning using a confocal sensor with chromatic coding and a surface-subwavelength probe touch sensor were developed and tested. A new technique for sensing the distance between the probe and a conducting surface via corona-discharge current measurement was developed. A specific lock-in system for detection of probe-scattered pulse-periodic radiation, which includes a hot-electron superconducting bolometer and an electronic signal-storage circuit, was developed to operate with the Novosibirsk terahertz FEL. All elements of the microscope were tested, and their working capacity was demonstrated. Experiments on the detection of microscope-probe-scattered terahertz radiation have been initiated.     

Low-temperature stages in the mechanochemical synthesis of gamma-lithium monoaluminate

Low-temperature (<500°C) stages in the synthesis of gamma-lithium monoaluminate through heat treatment of a mechanically activated mixture of aluminum hydroxide and lithium carbonate have been studied by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry in combination with mass spectrometry. The results demonstrate that heating the mixture to above 80–100°C is accompanied by the release of not only water (resulting from the decomposition of X-ray amorphous aluminum hydroxide) but also carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide originates from the reaction of the lithium carbonate with the products of X-ray amorphous aluminum hydroxide thermolysis.