Abstract: A uranium-free fuel for a fast nuclear reactor comprising an alloy of Pu, Zr and Hf, wherein Hf is present in an amount less than about 10% by weight of the alloy. The fuel may be in the form of a Pu alloy surrounded by a Zr--Hf alloy or an alloy of Pu--Zr--Hf or a combination of both.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 2, 1997
Date of Patent:
March 23, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America as respresented by the United States Department of Energy
Inventors:
Douglas C. Crawford, Douglas L. Porter, Steven L. Hayes, Robert N. Hill
Abstract: An apparatus useful in the prediction of the damage threshold of various optical devices, the location of weak spots on such devices and the location, identification, and elimination of optical surface impurities comprising, a focused and pulsed laser, an photo electric detector/imaging means, and a timer. The weak spots emit photoelectrons when subjected to laser intensities that are less than the intensity actually required to produce the damage. The weak spots may be eliminated by sustained exposure to the laser beam.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
February 4, 1985
Date of Patent:
May 19, 1987
Assignee:
The United States of America as respresented by the United States Department of Energy
Abstract: The disclosure is directed to an active magnetic regenerator apparatus and method. Brayton, Stirling, Ericsson, and Carnot cycles and the like may be utilized in an active magnetic regenerator to provide efficient refrigeration over relatively large temperature ranges.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 27, 1981
Date of Patent:
June 1, 1982
Assignee:
The United States of America as respresented by the United States Department of Energy
Abstract: Measurement of the velocity distribution of confined energetic alpha particles resulting from deuterium-tritium fusion reactions in a magnetically contained plasma is provided. The fusion plasma is seeded with energetic boron neutrals for producing, by means of the reaction .sup.10 B (.alpha.,n) .sup.13 N reaction, radioactive nitrogen nuclei which are then collected by a probe. The radioactivity of the probe is then measured by conventional techniques in determining the energy distribution of the alpha particles in the plasma. In a preferred embodiment, diborane gas (B.sub.2 H.sub.6) is the source of the boron neutrals to produce .sup.13 N which decays almost exclusively by positron emission with a convenient half-life of 10 minutes.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 30, 1985
Date of Patent:
June 3, 1986
Assignee:
The United States of America as respresented by the United States Department of Energy
Inventors:
Larry R. Grisham, Douglass E. Post, Jr., John M. Dawson