Infrared absorption spectroscopy of lipid layers was performed by combining optics and scanning probe microscopy. This experimental approach enables sub-diffraction IR imaging with a spatial resolution on the nanometer scale of 1, 2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine lipid layers.

The Canadian supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) design is part of Canada's Generation IV reactor development program. The reactor uses batch fueling, light water above the thermodynamic critical point as a coolant and a heavy water moderator. The design has evolved considerably and is currently at the conceptual design level. As a result of batch fueling, a certain amount of excess reactivity is loaded at the beginning of each fueling cycle. This excess reactivity must be controlled using a combination of burnable neutron poisons in the fuel, moderator poisons, and control blades interspersed in the heavy water moderator. Recent studies have shown that the combination of power density, high coolant temperatures, and reactivity management can lead to high maximum cladding surface temperatures (MCST) and maximum fuel centerline temperatures (MFCLT) in this design. This study focuses on improving both the MCST and the MFCLT through modifications of the conceptual design including changes from a 3 to 4 batch fueling cycle, a slightly shortened fuel cycle (although exit burnup remains the same), axial graded fuel enrichment, fuel-integrated burnable neutron absorbers, lower reactivity control blades, and lower reactor thermal powers as compared to the original conceptual design. The optimal blade positions throughout the fuel cycle were determined so as to minimize the MCST and MFCLT using a genetic algorithm and the reactor physics code PARCS. The final design was analyzed using a fully coupled PARCS-RELAP5/SCDAPSIM/MOD4.0 model to accurately predict the MCST as a function of time during a fueling cycle.

The Canadian Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR), a GEN IV reactor design, is a hybrid design of the well-established CANDU™ and Boiling Water Reactor with water above its thermodynamic critical point. Given the batch fueled design, control rods are used to manage the reactivity throughout the fuel cycle. This paper examines the consequences of a control rod drop accident (CRDA) for the Canadian SCWR. The asymmetry generated by the dropped rod requires an accurate 3-dimensional neutron kinetics calculation coupled to a detailed thermal-hydraulic model. Before simulating the CRDAs, the proper implementation of the 3D reactivity feedback was verified and various sensitivity studies were performed. This work demonstrates that the proposed safety systems for the SCWR core are capable of terminating the CRDA sequence prior to exceeding maximum sheath and centerline temperatures. In one instance involving a rod on the periphery of the core, the proposed trip setpoint (115% FP) was not exceeded and a new steady state was reached. Therefore it is recommended that the design also include provisions for a high-log rate and/or local Neutron Overpower Protection (NOP) trips, similar to existing CANDU designs such that reactor shutdown can be assured for such spatial anomalies.