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Materials Data on U(HO)8 by Materials Project

U(HO)8 crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c space group. The structure is three-dimensional. U is bonded to eight O atoms to form distorted edge-sharing UO8 hexagonal bipyramids. There are a spread of U–O bond distances ranging from 1.83–2.43 Å. There are four inequivalent H sites. In the first H site, H is bonded in a distorted linear geometry to two O atoms. There is one shorter (1.01 Å) and one longer (1.66 Å) H–O bond length. In the second H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 0.99 Å. In the third H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 0.99 Å. In the fourth H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to two O atoms. There is one shorter (1.00 Å) and one longer (1.75 Å) H–O bond length. There are four inequivalent O sites. In the first O site, O is bonded in a 4-coordinate geometry to two equivalent U, one H, and one O atom. The O–O bond length is 1.45 Å. In the second O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one U atom. In the third O site, O is bonded in a distorted water-like geometry to one U and two H atoms. In the fourth O site, O is bonded in a distorted water-like geometry to three H atoms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Materials Data on HoUTe4 by Materials Project

UHoTe4 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Imm2 space group. The structure is three-dimensional. U5+ is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to eight Te2- atoms. There are a spread of U–Te bond distances ranging from 3.06–3.22 Å. Ho3+ is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to eight Te2- atoms. There are a spread of Ho–Te bond distances ranging from 3.06–3.25 Å. There are three inequivalent Te2- sites. In the first Te2- site, Te2- is bonded to two equivalent U5+ and two equivalent Ho3+ atoms to form a mixture of distorted edge and corner-sharing TeHo2U2 trigonal pyramids. In the second Te2- site, Te2- is bonded to two equivalent U5+ and two equivalent Ho3+ atoms to form a mixture of distorted edge and corner-sharing TeHo2U2 trigonal pyramids. In the third Te2- site, Te2- is bonded in a 6-coordinate geometry to two equivalent U5+ and two equivalent Ho3+ atoms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Isomeric and beta-decay spectroscopy of 173,174 Ho

β-decay spectroscopy of 173,174 Ho (Z = 67, N = 106,107) was conducted at Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory at RIKEN by using in-flight fission of a 345-MeV/u 238 U primary beam. A previously unreported isomeric state at 405 keV with half-life of 3.7(12) μs and a spin and parity of (3/2 + ) is identified in 173 Ho. Moreover, a new state with a spin and parity of 9 - was discovered in 174 Er. The experimental log ft values of 5.84(20) and 5.25(18) suggest an allowed-hindered β decay from the ground state of 174 Ho to the K π = 8 - isomeric state in 174 Er. Configuration-constrained potential energy surface (PES) calculations were performed and the predictions are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results.

150 ≤ A ≤ 189↗

Formation of U(VI) peroxide nanoclusters from cascade reactions with a persulfate radical initiator

Radiolysis of water in high radiation fields generates a variety of reactive oxygen species that influence the chemical behavior and complexation of hexavalent uranium. This study investigates the behavior of interaction of a uranyl cation (UO 2 2+ (VI)) with a series of free radicals that are formed in situ via activation of the free radical initiator persulphate (S 2 O 8 2− ), which releases both SO 4 ˙ − and ˙OH species in the solution. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Raman spectroscopy were used to evaluate the presence of the hydroperoxyl radical (HO 2 ˙) and superoxide radicals (O 2 ˙ − ) that are formed within the solution through radical cascade reactions. In addition, a uranyl peroxide cluster solid (NaU 24 ) was crystallized and characterized using single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), vibrational spectroscopy, and EPR spectroscopy. The presence of the hydroperoxyl radical (HO 2 ˙) and superoxide radicals (O 2 ˙ − ) was also observed in the solid-state compound, but spectroscopic evidence suggests that it was associated with the Na + network and not the cluster itself. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also utilized to further confirm the radical species produced and determine the potential stabilization of radicals detected within the cluster and lattice.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Howardite Noble Gases as Indicators of Asteroid Surface Processing

The HED (Howardite, Eucrite and Diogenite) group meteorites likely or iginate from the Asteroid 4 Vesta - one of two asteroid targets of NA SA's Dawn mission. Whilst Howardites are polymict breccias of eucriti c and diogenitic material that often contain "regolithic" petrologica l features, neither their exact regolithic nature nor their formation processes are well defined. As the Solar Wind (SW) noble gas compon ent is implanted onto surfaces of solar system bodies, noble gas anal yses of Howardites provides a key indicator of regolithic origin. In addition to SW, previous work by suggested that restricted Ni (300-12 00 micro g/g) and Al2O3 (8-9 wt%) contents may indicate an ancient we ll-mixed regolith. Our research combines petrological, compositional and noble gas analyses to help improve understanding of asteroid reg olith formation processes, which will play an intergral part in the i nterpretation of Dawn mission data. Following compositional and petrological analyses, we developed a regolith grading scheme for our sampl e set of 30 Howardites and polymict Eucrites. In order to test the r egolith indicators suggested by, our 8 selected samples exhibited a r ange of Ni, Al2O3 contents and regolithic grades. Noble gas analyses were performed using furnace stepheating on our MAP 215-50 noble gas mass spectrometer. Of our 8 howardites, only 3 showed evidence of SW noble gases (e.g approaching Ne-20/Ne-22 approximately equals 13.75, Ne-21/Ne-22 approximately equals 0.033). As these samples display low regolithic grades and a range of Ni and Al2O3 contents, so far we are unable to find any correlation between these indicators and "regolit hic" origin. These results have a number of implications for both Ho wardite and Vesta formation, and may suggest complex surface stratigr aphies and surface-gardening processes.

Cartwright, J. A.↗

Quaternary borocarbides: New class of intermetallic superconductors

Our recent discovery of superconductivity (SC) in the four-element multiphase Y-Ni-B-C system at an elevated temperature (TC approximately 12 K) has opened up great possibilities of identifying new superconducting materials and generating new physics. Superconductivity with Tc (greater than 20 K) higher than that known so far in bulk intermetallics has been observed in multiphase Y-Pd-B-C and Th-Pd-B-C systems and a family of single phase materials RENi2B2C (RE= Y, rare earth) have been found. Our investigations show YNi2B2C to be a strong coupling hard type-II SC. HC2(T) exhibits an unconventional temperature dependence. Specific heat and magnetization studies reveal coexistence of SC and magnetism in RNi2B2C (R = Ho, Er, Tm) with magnetic ordering temperatures (Tc approximately 8 K, 10.5 K, 11 K and Tm approximately 5 K, approximately 7K, approximately 4 K respectively) that are remarkably higher than those in known magnetic superconductors . Mu-SR studies suggest the possibility of Ni atoms carrying a moment in TmNi2B2C. Resistivity results suggests a double re-entrant transition (SC-normal-SC) in HoNi2B2C. RENi2B2C (RE = Ce, Nd, Gd) do not show SC down to 4.2 K. The Nd- and Gd-compounds order magnetically at approximately 4.5 K and approximately 19.5 K, respectively. Two SC transitions are observed in Y-Pd-B-C (Tc approximately 22 K, approximately 10 K) and in Th-Pd-B-C (Tc approximately 20 K, approximately 14 K) systems, which indicate that there are at least two structures which support SC in these borocarbides. In our multiphase ThNi2B2C we observe SC at approximately 6 K. No SC was seen in multiphase UNi2B2C, UPd2B2C, UOs2Ge2C and UPd5B3C(0.35) down to 4.2 K. Tc in YNi2B2C is depressed by substitutions (Gd, Th and U at Y-sites and Fe, Co at Ni-sites).

Nagarajan, R.↗

Westinghouse advanced fuel management strategies leveraging high enrichment and high burnup fuel to optimize PWR economics

In the US, nuclear power plants have been focused on increasing electricity generation for over three decades via longer operating cycles, reduced number of outages and duration, and the implementation of power up-rates. The potential for zero-carbon emission credits and other carbon-reduction initiatives further makes nuclear power utilities to focus on increasing generation capability. Longer operating cycles provide increased energy generation and enable economic savings to nuclear utilities when the increase in fuel loading required to achieve the extended cycle energy target and resulting increase in total fuel cost is offset by the savings from outage avoidance and reduced replacement power costs. For the current licensed limits of 5 w/o {sup 235}U enrichment and 62 GWd/tU peak pin burnup, higher power density PWR plants, which are prevalent in the PWR fleet, require an excessively penalizing fraction of feed fuel assemblies to operate for the extended cycle duration, with inevitably poor fuel use and fuel cycle economics that cannot be counterbalanced by the savings on outage cost avoidance. To overcome this barrier, the nuclear industry is pursuing development of high enrichment/high burnup fuel technology ({sup 235}U enrichment up to 8 w/o and peak pin burnup up to 75 GWd/tU) which increases fuel energy generation capability and can enable high power density plants to achieve positive economics on 24-month cycle of operation. This paper presents advanced fuel management strategies developed by Westinghouse to enable transition of PWR reactors from 18-month to 24-month cycle of operation, with and without a core thermal power uprate, which are then used as basis to assess the economics of a direct transition from 18 to 24-month cycles with high enrichment/high burnup fuel. The results show that these fuel management strategies, especially if coupled with thermal power up-rates, present the opportunity for substantial economic benefits to utilities. The systematic review of fuel management strategies presented can provide an illustrative reference for decision makers as they consider how to maximize nuclear energy generation economically. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. III. Imaging of the Galactic Center Supermassive Black Hole

We present the first event-horizon-scale images and spatiotemporal analysis of Sgr A* taken with the Event Horizon Telescope in 2017 April at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. Imaging of Sgr A* has been conducted through surveys over a wide range of imaging assumptions using the classical CLEAN algorithm, regularized maximum likelihood methods, and a Bayesian posterior sampling method. Different prescriptions have been used to account for scattering effects by the interstellar medium toward the Galactic center. Mitigation of the rapid intraday variability that characterizes Sgr A* has been carried out through the addition of a “variability noise budget” in the observed visibilities, facilitating the reconstruction of static full-track images. Our static reconstructions of Sgr A* can be clustered into four representative morphologies that correspond to ring images with three different azimuthal brightness distributions and a small cluster that contains diverse nonring morphologies. Based on our extensive analysis of the effects of sparse (u,v)-coverage, source variability, and interstellar scattering, as well as studies of simulated visibility data, we conclude that the Event Horizon Telescope Sgr A* data show compelling evidence for an image that is dominated by a bright ring of emission with a ring diameter of ∼50 μas, consistent with the expected “shadow” of a 4 × 10$^{6}$ M $_{⊙}$ black hole in the Galactic center located at a distance of 8 kpc.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗