Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Why Hafnium?



At 08:52 AM 4/29/97, WALKIEWICZ@edinboro.edu wrote:
A student of mine that went through a nuclear training program while
in the Navy mentioned that Naval reactors use Hafnium as control rods
instead of Cadmium. It was interesting to then find that several
consecutive stable isotopes of Hafnium have a fairly high cross section
for neutron capture. However, elemental Cadmium has a cross section
of 2,450 barns while elemental Hafnium has a cross section of only
about 100 barns.

Question: Why is Hafnium used instead of Cadmium?

Tom Walkiewicz

A material half as dense as aluminum, yet whose melting point is close
to tungsten has its virtues.

Regards
brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>
Altus OK