Surrogate materials are in the form of solid particles that include surrogate isotopes, namely, short-lived isotopes selected and formed to serve as surrogates for the radioactive materials of a nuclear fallout without including isotopes that are, or that decay to, biologically or environmentally deleterious and persistent isotopes. The surrogate material may be formed using high-purity reactant material and irradiation and separation techniques that enable tailoring of the isotopes and ratios thereof included in the surrogate material, and the surrogate material may be dispersed, e.g., in a training environment, in solid form.

The system for storage includes spent nuclear fuel arranged in a drift and at least one first mechanical structure configured to cause a target material to move in the drift. The at least one first mechanical structure is configured to at least assist in actively controlling an exposure rate of the target material to the spent nuclear fuel while the target material is being exposed to the spent nuclear fuel. The system includes at least one second mechanical structure configured to remove the target material from the drift after the target material is exposed to the spent nuclear fuel.

The system for storage includes spent nuclear fuel arranged in a drift and at least one first mechanical structure configured to cause a target material to move in the drift. The at least one first mechanical structure is configured to at least assist in actively controlling an exposure rate of the target material to the spent nuclear fuel while the target material is being exposed to the spent nuclear fuel. The system includes at least one second mechanical structure configured to remove the target material from the drift after the target material is exposed to the spent nuclear fuel.

A reactor block to extract hydrogen from water includes a plurality of reactor plates bonded to one another and a plurality of channels formed on at least one side of each reactor plate. Each channel is coupled to a first opening and a second opening disposed on opposite first and second edges of the reactor plate, and a radioactive coating is applied to each channel. The first opening is configured to receive gasified water and the second opening is configured to eject hydrogen generated by radiolysis of at least a portion of the gasified water as the gasified water is passed through the channel coupled to the second opening.

A reactor block to extract hydrogen from water includes a plurality of reactor plates bonded to one another and a plurality of channels formed on at least one side of each reactor plate. Each channel is coupled to a first opening and a second opening disposed on opposite first and second edges of the reactor plate, and a radioactive coating is applied to each channel. The first opening is configured to receive gasified water and the second opening is configured to eject hydrogen generated by radiolysis of at least a portion of the gasified water as the gasified water is passed through the channel coupled to the second opening.

The present disclosure provides a gamma-ray attenuator and a gamma-ray shield for use in gamma-ray spectroscopy. The gamma-ray attenuator is a sleeve comprising a wall, a distal end, and a proximal end. The distal end of the sleeve is closed, and the proximal end of the sleeve forms an opening. A copper insert, a tin insert and a tungsten insert are installed in the sleeve such that the copper insert is adjacent to the distal end and the tungsten insert is closest to the proximal end. The sleeve is comprised of one or more materials that do not substantially attenuate gamma-rays. The open end of the sleeve fits over a tungsten safe that is operable to hold a radionuclide sample. When fitted together, a gamma-ray attenuator and a safe comprise a gamma-ray shield.

In order to provide a novel method of obtaining a thin film to replace the related art, provided is a method of manufacturing a thin film, including: generating mist of a dispersion liquid containing fine particles; supplying the generated mist of the dispersion liquid onto a substrate; and drying the dispersion liquid supplied onto the substrate.

The structures of base semiconductor materials such as Si are modified by the use of isotope transmutation alloying. A radioisotope such as Si.sup.31 is added into a base semiconductor material such as Si, and the radioisotope is transformed to a transmuted form within the crystal lattice structure of the base semiconductor material. A master alloy comprising a relatively large amount of radioisotope such as Si.sup.31 may initially be made, followed by introduction of the master alloy into the base semiconductor material. When Si.sup.31 is used as the radioisotope, it may be transmuted into P.sup.31 within an Si crystal lattice structure. Metastable semiconductor materials doped with otherwise insoluble amounts of selected dopants are produced as a result of the transmutation process.

Techniques of additive deposition for producing articles of manufacture are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an article of manufacture can include a substrate having a surface and composed of a metal or metal alloy and multiple layers of composite materials deposited on the surface of the substrate. The composite materials is composed of the metal or metal alloy and a ceramic material. The individual composite materials at each of the multiple layers has a composition with a corresponding ratio between the metal or metal alloy material and the ceramic material. The ratios between the metal or metal alloy material and the ceramic material change along at least one dimension of the article of manufacture.

The present disclosure relates to a radiographic shield incorporating a radiographic shutter mechanism, and a protective jacket for a radiographic device. The radiographic shutter mechanism includes machined tungsten components which in some embodiments, includes a jigsaw puzzle type interconnection, the radiographic shield includes an S-shaped passageway in combination with the radiographic shutter mechanism. The protective jacket allows for various mounting configurations, such as integrated SCAR mounting configurations, including a ratchet snap configuration.