2026-10-04 ISSP RAS mirror of the InTech 2013 book - Klassen et al. chapter

Book: "Current Research in Nuclear Reactor Technology in Brazil and Worldwide" (ed. A.Z. Mesquita, InTech, 2013, open access), mirrored at the Institute of Solid State Physics RAS [web] http://www.issp.ac.ru/ebooks/books/open/Current-Research-in-Nuclear-Reactor-Technology-in-Brazil-and-Worldwide.pdf ; saved as files/InTech2012-Current-Research-Nuclear-Reactor-Technology.pdf (345 pp., 27.7 MB). Chapter 11: N.V. Klassen, A.E. Ershov, V.V. Kedrov, V.N. Kurlov, S.Z. Shmurak, I.M. Shmytko, O.A. Shakhray, D.O. Stryukov, "Nanostructured Materials and Shaped Solids for Essential Improvement of Energetic Effectiveness and Safety of Nuclear Reactors and Radioactive Wastes", DOI 10.5772/55205 (book pp. 251-278).

This is supporting and related work by others (priority 2/3): an independent Russian group that ran experiments on the same heavy conductor - insulator - light conductor principle and cites Popa-Simil. - [read p.255-256] "Our experiments on propagation of ionizing radiation through triple-layer nanostructures including a strongly absorbing electrical conductor, an insulator and a weakly absorbing conductor showed that such adequately constructed structures can provide direct, sufficiently efficient conversion of neutron and gamma radiations to electricity." The quantitative results are in their refs. [49]-[51]: Yershov et al., Problems of Nuclear Science and Engineering, ser. Applied Physics and Automation, 2011, vol. 66, pp. 132-139; Yershov et al., "Efficiency of direct converters of radiation to electric power", J. of Nuclear Measuring and Information Technologies, 2012, No. 4, pp. 21-26. - [read p.271] The Yoshida/Tanabe patent (US 2005/0077876 A1) layered device: "the experimental data reported in the patent [16] have shown an efficiency factor of ~10^-5 %". The chapter blames non-optimal geometry, emitter layers too thick (tens of micrometres) and insulators too thick. - [read p.272] "with the insulator thickness reduced from 200 μm to 1 μm in the papers [49 - 51], the conversion efficiency increased by 3 orders". This directly supports Popa-Simil's design rule that the insulator should be thin (claim 2), as an independent measured trend. The absolute efficiency is not stated in the passage read. - [read p.272-273] "The experimental studies of nuclear energy conversion to electricity in plane layered structures with U235 [13, 14] revealed a conversion efficiency of 25 %." Refs: V.B. Anufrienko, V.P. Kovalev, A.V. Kulikov, B.A. Chernov, "Converters of nuclear energy to electricity by secondary electrons", Russian Chemical Journal, 2006, v.1 No.5, pp.120-125; V.B. Anufrienko, B.A. Chernov, A.M. Mikhailov et al., "Application of Super-Multilayered Nanostructures for Direct Conversion of Nuclear Energy to Electrical", Nano- and Micro-system Technique (in Russian), No. 8, 2008, pp. 30-39. This is a single-source report, at second hand, of a 25% measured efficiency. The primary papers have not been read yet. It is the most important lead for claim 1. - The chapter also cites Popa-Simil's US2010/0061503 A1 (ref. 17), "Advanced Nano-Nuclear Program Proposal, LAVM LLC, 2011" (ref. 18), Popa-Simil & Muntele, MRS 2008 vol. 1104 (ref. 19), Safonov RAND RM-1870 (1957) and Krieve, "JPL Fission-Electric Cell Experiment", JPL TR 32-981 (1966).