The smallest thermal nuclear reactor

There is a growing need for very small nuclear reactors for space applications and as portable high-intensity neutron sources. This technical note investigates the question of what is the smallest possible thermal reactor. It was found that the smallest reactor is a spherically shaped solution of 242mAm(NO3)3 in water. The weight of such a reactor is 4.95 kg with 0.7 kg of 242mAm nuclear fuel. The radius of the reactor in this case is 9.6 cm.

Ultra-thin 242mAm fuel elements in nuclear reactors

There is a growing interest in using 242mAm as a nuclear fuel. The advantages of 242mAm as a nuclear fuel derive from the fact that 242mAm has the highest thermal fission cross section. The thermal capture cross section is relatively low and the number of neutrons per thermal fission is high. These nuclear properties make it possible to obtain nuclear criticality with ultra-thin fuel elements. The possibility of having ultra-thin fuel elements enables the use of these fission products directly, without the necessity of converting their energy to heat, as is done in conventional reactors. There are three options of using such highly energetic and highly ionized fission products. 1. Using the fission products themselves for ionic propulsion. 2. Using the fission products in an MHD generator, in order to obtain electricity directly. 3. Using the fission products to heat a gas up to a high temperature for propulsion purposes. In this work, we are not dealing with a specific reactor design, but only calculating the minimal fuel elements' thickness and the energy of the fission products emerging from these fuel elements. It was found that it is possible to design a nuclear reactor with a fuel element of less than 1 μm of 242mAm. In such a fuel element, 90% of the fission products' energy can escape.

Taper-free and vertically oriented Ge nanowires on Ge/Si substrates grown by a two-temperature process

Taper-free and vertically oriented Ge nanowires were grown on Si (111) substrates by chemical vapor deposition with Au nanoparticle catalysts. To achieve vertical nanowire growth on the highly lattice mismatched Si substrate, a thin Ge buffer layer was first deposited, and to achieve taper-free nanowire growth, a two-temperature process was employed. The two-temperature process consisted of a brief initial base growth step at high temperature followed by prolonged growth at lower temperature. Taper-free and defect-free Ge nanowires grew successfully even at 270 °C, which is 90 °C lower than the bulk eutectic temperature. The yield of vertical and taper-free nanowires is over 90%, comparable to that of vertical but tapered nanowires grown by the conventional one-temperature process. This method is of practical importance and can be reliably used to develop novel nanowire-based devices on relatively cheap Si substrates. Additionally, we observed that the activation energy of Ge nanowire growth by the two-temperature process is dependent on Au nanoparticle size. The low activation energy (∼5 kcal/mol) for 30 and 50 nm diameter Au nanoparticles suggests that the decomposition of gaseous species on the catalytic Au surface is a rate-limiting step. A higher activation energy (∼14 kcal/mol) was determined for 100 nm diameter Au nanoparticles which suggests that larger Au nanoparticles are partially solidified and that growth kinetics become the rate-limiting step. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

~(90)锶对鲫鱼胚胎发育的影响及鲫仔鱼对~(90)锶吸收积累的研究

在胚胎发育过程中,用不同比放射性的~(90)锶试液处理受精卵,各处理组都有畸形和死亡现象。畸形的高峰一般出现在囊胚期和晶体形成期,畸形的类型一般为脊椎弯曲、体短、胸腔和卵黄囊扩大,头和眼畸形。随后即出现死亡高峰。例如:游动期的死亡率分别是:21%(对照);36%(5×10~(-11)居里/升);40%(5×1-~(-10)居里/升);45%(5×10~(-9)居里/升)。鲫仔鱼对~(90)锶吸收积累的结果表明:鲫仔鱼体中比放射性大小与试液的比放射性大小成正比,并随试验吋间的延长,生物量的增加而增加,鲫仔鱼

固定化假单胞菌CTP-01细胞分解对硫磷的研究

用明胶-戊二醛(GGA)和聚丙烯酰胺(PAA)包埋的固定化Pseudomonas sp.CTP-01细胞具有降解对硫磷的特性。GGA固定化细胞水解对硫磷的活力比PAA固定化细胞高5.8倍。当保存在4℃时GGA和PAA固定化细胞分别可以保持活力31.3和70%。GGA和PAA包埋的细胞最适反应温度分别为50℃到70℃和60℃到70℃,然而整细胞在温度超过65℃时活力很快下降。GGA和PAA两种固定化细胞最适pH为8.0,当pH低于7.0时活力开始下降,pH4吋则完全失活。

草鱼血液学的研究 Ⅰ.九项血液常数的周年变化

用741尾健康草鱼种作红细胞、血红蛋白、红细胞比积、红细胞平均体积、红细胞平均血红蛋白量、红细胞平均血红蛋白浓度、红细胞沉降率、血浆总蛋白和血浆葡萄糖浓度等九项血液常数的测定。所得的年均值经变异系数分析,除红细胞沉降率和血浆葡萄糖浓度外,其余各项常数的可靠性基本一致。另从周年变动的规律分析,高值出现在冬夏季,低值出现的月份较为分散。水温仅对总蛋白含量的变动呈现显著的负相关(P<0.01)。而体重与血液常数存在着一定的相关因素,在10—90克之间的鱼种中,血红蛋白、红细胞比积、红细胞平均体积、红细胞平均血红

Stretching-assembled nanowires for organic-based thin film transistors

We demonstrate a stretched contact-printing technique to assemble one-dimensional nanostructures with controlled density and orientation. Over 90% nanowires are highly aligned along the primary stretching direction. Specifically, The hybrid inorganic-organic TFTs based on a parallel-aligned nanowire network and a semiconducting polymer reveal a significant positive enhancement in transistor performance and air-stability.

有机磷农药在水生态系中生物净化机理研究---- ----4. Pseudomonas sp. CTP-01 的对硫磷水解酶诱导合成性质

Pseudomonas sp.CTP-01的对硫磷水解酶具有底物诱导合成性质。停滞生长期的细胞接触底物半小时即产生相应酶的合成,而指数生长期的细胞接触底物48小时后才发生酶的合成。甲基对硫磷及对硝基酚也具有诱导作用,可见合成对硫磷水解酶的诱导特异基团可能与对硝基酚及其苯环上的取代基有密切关系。

Initial investigation into the use of GGBS-MgO in soil stabilisation

Portland cement (PC) is the most widely used binder for ground improvement. However, there are significant environmental impacts associated with its production in terms of high energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Hence, the use of industrial by-products materials or new low-carbon footprint alternative cements has been encouraged. Ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS), a by-product of the steel industry, has been successfully used for such an application, usually activated with an alkali such as lime or PC. In this study the use of MgO as a novel activator for GGBS in ground improvement of soft soils is addressed and its performance was compared to the above two conventional activators as well as PC alone. The GGBS:activator ratio used in this study was 9:1. A range of tests was performed at three curing periods (7, 28 and 90 days), including unconfined compressive strength (UCS), permeability and microstructure analysis. The results show that the MgO performed as the most efficient activator yielding the highest strength and the lowest permeability indicating a very high stabilisation efficiency of the system. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

利用水生植物清除水体中放射性物质的研究 (Ⅲ)水生植物对Sr~(90)、Y~(91)、Cs~(137)、Ce~(144)的积累、释放及Ca对Sr~(90)吸收的影响

5种水生植物对所用4种放射性同位素都有一定的清除能力,其清除能力的大小不仅取决于生物的种类,而且还取决于生物本身代谢率的高低。试验结果:去污率高的可达80%,积累系数最高可达1,500;水体中含Ca量的多少对生物吸收积累放射性物质的多少有一定的影响;生物在积累放射性物质之后,转移到无放射性物质的水体中将释放出原积累的一部分放射性物质。

Strength and drying shrinkage of reactive MgO modified alkali-activated slag paste

Conventional alkali-activated slag (AAS) cements suffer from significant drying shrinkage which hinders their widespread application. This paper investigates the potential of using commercial reactive MgO to reduce the drying shrinkage of AAS. Two different reactive MgOs were added at a content of 2.5-7.5 wt% of the slag, which was activated by sodium hydroxide and water-glass. The strength and the drying shrinkage of those reactive MgO modified AAS (MAAS) pastes were measured up to 90 days. It is found that MgO with high reactivity accelerated the early hydration of AAS, while MgO with medium reactivity had little effect. The drying shrinkage was significantly reduced by highly reactive MgO but it also generated severe cracking under the dry condition. On the other hand, medium-reactive MgO only showed observable shrinkage-reducing effect after one month, but the cement soundness was improved. The hydration products, analysed by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy techniques, showed that Mg was mainly incorporated in the hydrotalcite-like phases. It is concluded that the curing conditions and the time of hydrotalcite-like phases formation and their quantity are crucial to the developed strength and shrinkage reduction properties of MAAS, which are highly dependent on the reactivity and content of reactive MgO. Crown Copyright © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

利用水生植物清除水体中放射性物质的研究(Ⅰ)——水生植物对Sr~(90)的吸收积累和清除能力

<正> 原子能和平利用事业的广泛开展,水体中容易受到放射性物貭的沾染,尤其是核武器的試驗,使水体中的放射性本底逐漸增高。如何清除水体中放射性物貭沾染,是一个必需解决的重要問题。水生植物对放射性物貭具有吸收和积累的能力,在許多文献中已有报导。为了利用水生植物的这个特性来清除水体中放射性沾染,我們对九种水生植物进行了試驗。

Behavior of RC beams retrofitted with CARDIFRC after thermal cycling

This study investigates the effect of thermal cycling on the performance of concrete beams retrofitted with CARDIFRC, a new class of high performance fiber-reinforced cement-based material that is compatible with concrete. Twenty four beams were subjected to 24 h thermal cycles between 25 and 90°C. One third of the beams were reinforced either in flexure only or in flexure and shear with conventional steel reinforcement and used as control specimens. The remaining sixteen beams were retrofitted with CARDIFRC strips to provide external flexural and/or shear strengthening. All beams were exposed to a varied number of 24 h thermal cycles ranging from 0 to 90 and were tested in four-point bending at room temperature. The tests indicated that the retrofitted members were stronger and stiffer than control beams, and more importantly, that their failure initiated in flexure without any signs of interfacial delamination cracking. The results of these tests are presented and compared to analytical predictions. The predictions show good correlation with the experimental results. © 2010 ASCE.

Mechanical and fracture properties of cement-based bi-materials after thermal cycling

This study investigates the effect of thermal cycles on the fracture properties of the cement-based bi-materials. Sixty eight cubes were exposed to a varied number of 24-hour thermal cycles ranging from 0 to 90 and subsequently were tested in a wedge splitting configuration. The mechanical and fracture properties of normal strength and high strength concretes are substantially improved after 30 thermal cycles, but less so after 90 thermal cycles both in isolation and when bonded to an ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced cement-based composite. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Species identification of Chinese sturgeon using acoustic descriptors and ascertaining their spatial distribution in the spawning ground of Gezhouba Dam

This study has developed an improved subjective approach of classification in conjunction with Step wise DFA analysis to discriminate Chinese sturgeon signals from other targets. The results showed that all together 25 Chinese sturgeon echo-signals were detected in the spawning ground of Gezhouba Dam during the last 3 years, and the identification accuracy reached 90.9%. In Stepwise DFA, 24 out of 67 variables were applied in discrimination and identification. PCA combined with DFA was then used to ensure the significance of the 24 variables and detailed the identification pattern. The results indicated that we can discriminate Chinese sturgeon from other fish species and noise using certain descriptors such as the behaviour variables, echo characteristics and acoustic cross-section characteristics. However, identification of Chinese sturgeon from sediments is more difficult and needs a total of 24 variables. This is due to the limited knowledge about the acoustic-scattering properties of the substrate regions. Based on identified Chinese sturgeon individuals, 18 individuals were distributed in the region between the site of Gezhouba Dam and Miaozui reach, with a surface area of about 3.4 km(2). Seven individuals were distributed in the region between Miaozui and Yanshouba reach, with a surface area of about 13 km(2).