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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
N. M. Levitz, G. J. Vogel, E. L. Carls, E. Grosvenor, B. Kullen, D. Raue, W. Murphy
Nuclear Technology | Volume 6 | Number 2 | February 1969 | Pages 147-155
Technical Paper and Note | doi.org/10.13182/NT69-A28246
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A total of 2.3 kg of PuF4 was fluorinated to PuF6 with elemental fluorine in a fluidized bed of alumina in three campaigns, each consisting of three separate fluorination runs followed by a fluorination-cleanup step in which any plutonium deposited in the lines and equipment was recovered. Each run involved 260 g of −325 mesh PuF4 powder; a single ∼6.5-kg bed of nominal 48–100 mesh alumina was used in each campaign. A 93% F2-7% N2 gas mixture, which was recycled, served as the fluidizing gas and reactant. The temperature of the fluidized alumina bed was increased incrementally to 550°C, and the total fluorination time for each run was 3 to 5 h. The PuF6 was collected in traps at ∼−65°C and subsequently was sorbed on NaF. Plutonium material balances were 97, 101, and 99%. Average production rates of PuF6 were 2.4 to 4.1 lb PuF6/(h ft2) but rates >6 lb PuF6/(h ft2) were attained in initial 30-min fluorination periods. Fluorine utilization efficiency (the ratio of fluorine reacted to that which could theoretically react based on equilibrium considerations) averaged 22, 17, and 28% although efficiencies near 100% were calculated for the earlier portions of a run, when large quantities of plutonium were present. Over 96% of the plutonium charged was recovered as PuF6 while ½% was discarded as waste in the alumina bed of the fluorinator. Less than 2% of the PuF6 was decomposed to PuF4 by radiation, and this was refluorinated and recovered without difficulty.