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Advanced Security and
Safeguarding in the
Nuclear Power
Industry
State of the art and future
challenges
Edited by
Victor Nian, PhD

Senior Fellow
Energy Studies Institute
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Executive Director
UNiLAB on Integrated Systems Analysis Tools
Singapore
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom
525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
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Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
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how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright
by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional
practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described
herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety
and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional
responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or
editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a
matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any
methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
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ISBN: 978-0-12-818256-7
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Contributors
Jonathan Bellamy, C.Arb
Barrister and Chartered Arbitrator, London, United Kingdom
Ira Martina Drupady
Research Associate, Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore,
Singapore
Manoor Prakash Hande, PhD, MPH
Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Tembusu
College, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Günther Handl
Eberhard Deutsch Professor of Public International Law, Tulane University Law
School, New Orleans, LA, United States
Wison Luangdilok, PhD, MS, BS
President, H2Technology LLC, Westmont, IL, United States; Fauske & Associates
LLC, Burr Ridge, IL, United States
Wilner Martinez-López, MD, PhD
Epigenetics and Genomic Instability Laboratory, Instituto de Investigaciones
Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay; Associate Unit on Genomic
Stability, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Republic (UdelaR), Montevideo,
Uruguay
Paul Murphy
Managing Director, Murphy Energy & Infrastructure Consulting, LLC,
Washington, DC, United States
Gareth B. Neighbour, PhD, BSc
School of Engineering and Innovation, The Open University, Milton Keynes,
United Kingdom
William J. Nuttall, PhD, BSc
School of Engineering and Innovation, The Open University, Milton Keynes,
United Kingdom
Dmitrii Samokhin, PhD
Head, Department of Nuclear Physics and Engineering, Obninsk Institute for
Nuclear Power Engineering of the National Research Nuclear University,
Obninsk, Russian Federation
Tatsujiro Suzuki, MS
Professor, Doctor, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki
University, Nagasaki, Japan
xi
xii Contributors
Peng Xu
Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, United States
Man-Sung Yim, ScD, PhD, MS, SM
Professor, Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
About the Editor
Victor Nian
Dr. Victor Nian is a Senior Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute (ESI), National
University of Singapore (NUS). Dr. Nian holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering
and a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Management of Technol-
ogy, all from NUS. At ESI, the main focus of his research is on the peaceful and stra-
tegic use of atomic energy. His research portfolio also covers a wide spectrum of
energy issues with focus on technology management and industrial policies. Dr.
Nian is the Founder and the Executive Director of UNiLAB on Integrated Systems
Analysis Tools, which hosts a research network of more than fifteen academic and
research organizations from around the world. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the
University of Cambridge and an Adjunct Professor at Tianjin University of Com-
merce. Dr. Nian was previously the President of the Engineering Alumni Singapore,
the official alumni society for NUS established in 1972, for three consecutive terms.
xiii
Preface
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke
From the advent of the steam engine to the development of mass aviation, tech-
nology has been a remarkable boon to contemporary society. However, while tech-
nological advances have undeniably created tremendous opportunities on an
unprecedented scale, they have also been fraught with myriad anxieties over their
real and perceived dangers.
The history of nuclear energy is perhaps the epitome of the Janus-faced character
of modern society’s relationship with its growing technological mastery over nature.
In 1904, the British physicist Ernest Rutherford wrote “If it were ever possible to
control at will the rate of disintegration of the radio elements, an enormous amount
of energy could be obtained from a small amount of matter.” It was not till 35 years
later that Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativitydas emblematized in his
famous formula “E¼MC2” for mass-energy equivalencedwas proven, unlocking
the floodgates to the tremendous energy potential of the fundamental building blocks
of the universedthe atoms. Nonetheless, the allure of nuclear power has been
repeatedly tempered from the long-lasting trauma of its birth in the flames of the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, to the public backlash incited by the
ongoing impacts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. It is therefore unsur-
prising that the “Three S’s”dsafety, security, and safeguardsdhave become the
three fundamental pillars of the global nuclear power industry.
Our addiction to fossil fuels has caused devastating damage to the environment,
biodiversity, and public health. Moreover, the costs of inaction are rapidly mounting
as the unrelenting accumulation of anthropogenic greenhouse gases threatens to tip
the damaging transformations ecosystems worldwide past the point of no return.
While the nuclear power industry will continue to face evolving technological
and institutional challenges, national regulatory bodies and the International Atomic
Energy Agency have promulgated policy, regulatory, and legal instruments as addi-
tional security measures to safeguard the public interest as well as the global nuclear
power industry in delivering safe and reliable clean energy to our modern society.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of these measures, and how they
have been updated to address future challenges. As such, the book is particularly
relevant to countries with an interest in developing a nuclear power industry but
which are not yet a nuclear state, as well as countries where education to improve
society’s opinion on nuclear power is crucial to its future success in low carbon
development.
Books on atomic energy have almost exclusively focused on the safety aspect.
However, the equally important issues of security and safeguards have often been
xv
xvi Preface
unduly overlooked. Motivated by the need to bring a balanced review of a wide-

ranging scientific, engineering, policy, regulatory, and legal issues facing the nuclear
power industry, we embarked on this endeavor to deliver a much needed review of the
latest developments in “Three S’s” as well as other related and important subject
matters within and beyond the nuclear power industry. This book presents the state
of the art in an accessible form for a wide-ranging audience that is suitable for nuclear
industry practitioners, scientists, engineers, lawyers, educators, and policymakers.
Acknowledgment
We are most grateful of the contributing authors in delivering excellent reviews of

important subject matters for this edited book. In addition, we would like to record
our thanks to Philip Andrews-Speed, Yousry Azmy, S.K. Chou, and Egor Simonov
(family name in alphabetical order) for generously providing assistance in various
commendable ways. The editor would like to thank everyone on the editorial
team. Special thanks to Michelle Fisher, the ever-patient Editorial Project Manager,
for taking this project through to its success.
Victor Nian, PhD, BE

Senior Fellow, Energy Studies Institute,
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Executive Director, UNiLAB on Integrated

Systems Analysis Tools, Singapore
xvii
CHAPTER
Recent advances in
nuclear power
technologies 1
Dmitrii Samokhin, PhD
Head, Department of Nuclear Physics and Engineering, Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power
Engineering of the National Research Nuclear University, Obninsk, Russian Federation
1. Introduction
This chapter is based on lectures that the author gave for the course “Construction of
Nuclear Reactors” for a number of years to senior students at the Obninsk Institute
for Nuclear Power Engineering of the National Research Nuclear University, Mos-
cow Engineering Physics Institute.
Textbooks and manuals on this subject are obsolete or designed for students of
other specialties. They generally contain descriptions of specific design solutions
used in various nuclear reactors. However, they almost never provide guidance for
developers in making these decisions, as well as the side (possibly nonphysical) fac-
tors affecting them. The material in this chapter is intended to fill this gap to the best
possible extent.
Nuclear power reactors are mostly by-products of the defense industry (except
maybe Canada deuterium uranium reactors). They were created by experts whose
mindset was to solve major military tasks in which the possibility of human and ma-
terial loss was considered natural and only to be decreased.
Therefore, when the first generation of nuclear reactors was created, their tech-
nical and economic quality was optimized without much careful consideration of se-
curity issues. Moreover, it was believed that even when the project violated safety
requirements, if they were minor, “” the authorities into“” the project with the right
influence. The bitter lessons of disasters such as the Three Mile Island nuclear power
plant (NPP) in the United States, the Chernobyl NPP, and the Fukushima Daiichi
NPP showed that neglected security issues can also lead to disastrous economic con-
sequences, not just overexposure of radiation to personnel, the population, and the
environment.
I hope that for a new generation of designers of nuclear reactors, the formation of
the style of thinking that is one purposes in writing this chapter will result in more
care and attention to safety in nuclear power.
It is assumed that the reader has the original information from the course “Nu-
clear and Neutron Physics” (i.e., the designation “U-235” denotes the isotope ura-
nium element with a nucleus containing 235 nucleons).
Advanced Security and Safeguarding in the Nuclear Power Industry. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818256-7.00001-5 1

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
2 CHAPTER 1 Recent advances in nuclear power technologies
Considering that any textbook for convenience should assume a maximum de-
gree of self-sufficiency and contain at least links to information from other publica-
tions, the author found it necessary to include in the guide some materials related to
other courses but required to understand the key moments. This information is
concentrated mainly in the first chapter, which can be considered as a first approx-
imation, an introduction to the profession.
All of us, especially the students, are tired of the abundance of mathematical for-
mulas, equations. and proofs in the educational and scientific literature in the disci-
plines of engineering and physics. Therefore, knowing that it is impossible to avoid
them completely, the author has sought to use only the minimum number of them
necessary.
The author would like to thank Professor Volkov Yuri Vasilievich (Obninsk Insti-
tute for Nuclear Power Engineering of the National Research Nuclear University
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), as the head of the material prepared on
the basis of its eponymous manuals.
2. Methods for converting the energy of division to useful

work
2.1 Efficiency
When you convert, a part of energy is lost. If a machine- or apparatus-implemented
process changes and/or energy is transferred, the efficiency of this process is usually
characterized by a coefficient of performance. The circuit of this device has the form
shown in Fig. 1.1.
Efficiency is defined as the ratio of useful work to input energy: h ¼ Euse =Esup:
The energy conservation law Esup ¼ Euse þ Eloss is then:
h ¼ 1 Eloss =Esup :
It is known from the course on thermodynamics that to obtain work from heat
continuously, it is necessary to have a working fluid that would carry out a sequence
of circular processes (i.e., such processes in which it would periodically return to its
FIGURE 1.1
Machine scheme for the process of conversion and/or energy transfer.
2. Methods for converting the energy of division to useful work 3
original state). In each cyclic process, the working fluid receives a quantity of heat Q,
the primary energy source (in our case, of a nuclear fuel) at a sufficiently high tem-
perature and sends a minimal amount of heat Q2 to the environment (water or air).
Because the working fluid after the cycle is returned to its original state and does
not change its internal energy, in accordance with the law of conservation of energy,
the difference in heat is converted into work:
L ¼ Q1 Q2 :
The possibility and efficiency of heat conversion to other forms of energy (me-
chanical or electrical) are primarily determined by the temperature at which the Q1
heat can be transferred to the working fluid. The temperature at which the heat given,
Q2, is also significant. Because warmth is given to the environment, in reality this
temperature varies within a narrow range determined by fluctuations in the temper-
ature of the environment.
The efficiency of converting heat into work is evaluated by the thermal
efficiency:
htmax ¼ L=Q2 ¼ 1 Q2 =Q1 : From the course on thermodynamics, it is known
that if the absolute temperature T1 of heat supply Q1 and the temperature T2 of heat
removal Q2 are set, the maximum possible efficiency:
htmax ¼ 1 T2 =T1
Such efficiency can theoretically be obtained by the so-called Carnot cycle,
which in practice cannot be realized. All real cycles in which the highest heat input
temperature T1 and the lowest temperature of heat removal T2 have a thermal
efficiency:
ht 1 T2 =T1
The design of the nuclear reactor should be such that the temperature of the fuel,
and accordingly, the coolant, is as high as possible. In this case, the efficiency of the
reactor as a heat engine will be maximum.
2.2 Heat transformation in electricity through mechanical work

In all of the NPP, thermal energy obtained by nuclear fuel is converted into mechan-
ical vapor while expanding in the turbine, which in turn rotates a generator that gen-
erates electricity. A simplified view of a steam power plant, is shown in Fig. 1.2. It
includes (1) a heat source, (2) a steam turbine, (3) a condenser, and (4) a pump.
Steam power equipment works on the so-called Rankine cycle (i.e., the cycle in
which the working fluid is at a high temperatures and steam works in the turbines
and at low temperatures as liquid). Because the fluid is practically incompressible,
pump 4, which serves to raise the pressure rise and circulate the working fluid,
consumes relatively little energy, LM. Maximum efficiency is:
h ¼ 1 ðQ2 þ LM Þ=Q1
FIGURE 1.2
Simplified view of steam power plant.
Nuclear power may be offer options for transferring heat to the working body:
1) The heat source 1 (the reactor itself)
2) Heat source 1 (the heat exchanger to which heat is supplied to the reactor via an
intermediate circuit (Fig. 1.3)
3) More intermediate heat exchangers (Fig. 1.4)
This traditional conversion of heat into electricity and its impact on the design
features of the actual nuclear reactors are further discussed in detail in later chapters.
The maximum efficiency that can be achieved in this scheme is 33%e40%.
2.3 Direct conversion of heat into electricity

Because the original form of energy in an energy conversion device is direct heat, the
efficiency of obtaining electricity is subject to the restrictions of the second law of
thermodynamics and cannot exceed the efficiency of the Carnot cycle for the same
temperature interval.
There are two methods for direct conversion:
• thermoelectric and
• thermal electron emission.
FIGURE 1.3
Dual nuclear power plant (NPP) scheme.
FIGURE 1.4
Three-loop-circuit nuclear power plant (NPP).
2.3.1 Thermal electric generators.

The work of thermoelectric generators (TEG) is based on the thermoelectric effect
discovered in the last century: the Peltier and Seebeck effect.
We will consider the Peltier effect. If, after a junction of dissimilar conductors
(metals and semiconductors) constant current I is skipped, the junction depends
on the direction of current heat released or absorbed:
Qp ¼ aIT.
where a is the factor depending on the properties of selected conductors and T is the
junction temperature.
We will consider the Seebeck effect. If the connection consists of two dissimilar
conductors junctions at different temperatures, T1, and T2, an electromotive force
(e.m.f.) E is proportional to the temperature difference:
E ¼ aðT1 T2 Þ
where a is coefficient of thermal e.m.f. or Seebeck coefficient.
Both effects complement each other and have the same physical nature, in that if
any has free electrons, it tends to come to thermal equilibrium with the surrounding
nuclei of the material. Therefore, in both formulas, the coefficient a is the same.
The diagram of one TEG is shown in Fig. 1.5. Thermoelectrodes 1 and 2 are
made of different materials electrically connected to junctions A and B. Electrode
2 is broken and the gap is included (key 3) and load R.
If junctions A and B are kept at different temperatures, T1 > T2 ; the open circuit
will be important in the difference (E). When the potentials close key 3, the circuit
and a load current flows (I). However, according to the Peltier effect, when a current
flows through junction I, dissimilar conductors at this junction are absorbed or
released heat (Qn). For example, in junction A, current flows from conductor 1 to
conductor 2, and thus, it is absorbed heat, Q1 ¼ aIT1 , which must fail. Then, in
junction B, on the contrary, current flows from conductor 1 to conductor 2, whereby
the junction generates heat Q2 ¼ aIT2 ; which must be removed.
When current I flows in the circuit, where e.m.f. effect E is the electric energy
produced by Lel ¼ EI; i.e.,
FIGURE 1.5
Thermoelectric generator.
Lel ¼ aðT1 T2 ÞI
in the ideal case
Lel ¼ Q1 Q2
for such an ideal TEG, efficiency would have been
hideal ¼ LEL =Q1 ¼ aðT1 T2 Þ I=aT1 I ¼ 1 T2 =T1 ¼ ht; max
In this case, the efficiency is that of the Carnot cycle.
However, in reality, this efficiency cannot be obtained. Along with the processes
described earlier for TEG, others substantially reduce efficiency. First, owing to the
temperature difference between the junctions of the electrodes by 1 and 2, specific
thermal conductivity from the hot junction to the cold heat results in flow QT. This
heat is useless. It is at a constant LEL increases the required heat Q1 (i.e., it reduces
efficiency). The amount of heat at a given QT difference T1T2 is proportional to the
coefficient of thermal conductivity l and conductor cross-sectional area and
inversely proportional to its length.
2.3.2 Thermoelectric generator accepted quality measure Q factor
zwa2 =l
The larger the z (i.e., the more the TEG performance), as measured by the coef-
ficient a, and the less losses of heat is measured by thermal conductivity coefficient
l, the higher efficiency results for the TEG. This is an ideal to which we should strive
to create TEG: it is necessary to provide better than the Q factor of 2.103 materials
can withstand, and the system must maintain the temperature of the hot junction
w1000 K.
The most successful materials for thermoelectrodes are considered to be alloys
and compounds of elements of groups IV-VI of the periodic system: tin, lead, bis-
muth, antimony, tellurium, selenium, germanium, and silicon (semiconductor).
The Q coefficient values for their z may reach 2.103 to 3.103 1/degrees. The strong
temperature dependence of z means that you can actually reach 1.5 103 1/degrees.
Typically, the TEG is a sequence of thermocouples connected in series special
switching plates forming junctions. The result is a group of so-called hot junctions
operating at a temperature T1 and cold junctions operating at a temperature
T2 ðT1 > T2 Þ Fig. 1.6 is a diagram of the TEG. The full e.m.f. developed by the
TEG is the sum of the individual elements of the e.m.f. The TEG circuit (terminals
A and B) passes through the load and the switching thermoelectrode plate passes the
same current.
As a result, the hot junctions absorb, emitting heat and cold. To maintain constant
temperatures T1 and T2 to the hot junctions, it is necessary to sum Q1 heat, and from
cold to draw Q2. TEG efficiency is less than a single element of the additional losses
in the switching plates.
Owing to the high cost and low efficiency, TEG are used in large-scale stationary
power generation. However, they are used widely in space solar energy. The energy
source is nuclear reactors or radioisotope sources. Achievable electrical power is up
to tens of kilowatts. The materials used are germanium-silicon alloys.
TEG is placed in a nuclear reactor and arranged to the supply heat removal
within the constraints of mass and dimension is disadvantageous. Therefore, for cos-
mic power plants, TEG is delivered in refrigerator emitters. Hot junctions are usually
at a temperature of T1 w 900K, which provides the pumping of liquid metal (LM)
coolant. The efficiency of such power plants is 5% or less.
2.3.3 Thermal electron energy converter

The basis of thermal electron energy converter (TEC) rest in the thermoelectric
emission phenomenon: if any metal heated to a certain temperature, t, is placed in
a vacuum, a certain amount of its electrons will move in vacuum. In this transition,
FIGURE 1.6
Thermoelectric circuit.
electrons must overcome an energy barrier called work output, 4, typically a few
electron volts component.
At low temperatures, the average energy of the free electrons is substantially less
for 4 and only a tiny fraction of the electrons is emitted into a vacuum. The number
of free electrons increases sharply with increasing metal temperature. The phenom-
enon of thermionic emission is widely used in electron tubes and electron
accelerators.
The heated metal body is placed in a vacuum. After a while, when the electron
cloud and the potential difference is set, further electron emission stops. Under these
conditions, however many electrons come out of the metal, the same amount returns
owing to natural condensation. The equilibrium potential difference between the
metal and the electron cloud is equal to the metal 4 output.
Electrons emitted by the body (cathode-emitter) can be selected, for example, by
placing it close to the cathode the anode (collector) and applying a voltage of appro-
priate sign. The maximum quantity of electricity that can be selected in a unit of time
is called the saturation current. The density of this current, i, can be calculated by the
Richardson formula:
i ¼ AT2 exp ð4 = KTÞ:
2 2
in which A z 120a sm K , the Richardson constant; 4 is the metal work function;
and k is Boltzmann’s universal constant.
2.3.4 Where is the required voltage?

Voltage is applied to the cathode and anode from an extraneous electric source,
which acts continuously, and the circuit is closed through a load. The current will
flow through the circuit, determined by work function 4 and temperature T of the
cathode. All electronic lamps work this way. However, they are consumers rather
than energy.
Work energy sources are organized differently. When placed in a vacuum, two
electrodes of different metals with different work functions, 41 and 42, have
some potential difference, D4 (Fig. 1.7) established between them.
If electrodes 1 and 2 are the same temperature, no current will exist (otherwise it
would be perpetual motion) for the closure chain. If electrode-emitter I has a higher
FIGURE 1.7
Potential of the electrode clouds.
1 – fuel
2 – shell
3 – emitter material
4 – working clearance with steam Cs
5 – collector
6 - coolant
FIGURE 1.8
Thermoelectric generators in the form of a fuel rod. 1, fuel; 2, shell; 3, emitter material; 4,
working clearance with steam Isotope Cs-133; 5, collector; 6, coolant.
temperature than the electrode-collector, the circuit closing electrons from the
emitter to the collector will be used.
If the emitter temperature is not maintained, it is cooled, because the selection of
the electrons’ electrode cools (Edison effect). To keep the emitter temperature con-
stant, heat must be supplied to it:
q ¼ ið4 þ 2kT = eÞ
per unit surface, where e is the electron charge; the rest of the notation is as
explained earlier. When electrons are from the vacuum in the manifold, an appro-
priate amount of heat (heat of condensation) is allocated; to maintain a constant
temperature of the collector, this heat must be removed.
In the NPP, which is based on this principle of energy conversion, it is possible to
create a compact reactor-converter (RC), in which all energy-producing parts are
built into the core and contain no moving parts. On the outside, there is only a cool-
ing circuit. In this scheme, the fuel element itself is designed as a TEC (Fig. 1.8).
Such designs have been created and work successfully: for example, the domestic
space NPP with RC “Topaz”. Creation of such a plant is an engineering challenge
because TEC has to work at high temperatures, higher currents, and neutron fluxes.
This is particularly frustrating because the properties of materials under irradiation
can vary greatly:
The possibility is considered of creating a combined NPP direct conversion and
power conversion machine method.
2.4 Other methods for converting fission energy into useful work
2.4.1 Magneto-hydrodynamic method
The operating principle of a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) generator is substan-
tially identical to the usual operation principle of the electromechanical generator.
Just as in ordinary e.m.f. in the MHD generator, it is generated in the conductor,
which crosses the magnetic field lines at a certain speed. However, if conventional
generators’ movable conductors are made of solid metal in the MHD generator, they
represent a flow of conductive liquid or gas (plasma).
The working fluid enters generally rectangular conductive flow channel at veloc-
ity W. In accordance with the laws of electrodynamics, when the working fluid
moves in a magnetic field with induction B, an electric field with intensity E is
induced in it. At the same time, an electric driving force arises on the electrode walls.
It is equal to the product E * b, where b is the transverse dimension of the channel.
When electrodes are attached to the outer Rn load and the working fluid is current
(I), this current flows in the channel and interacts with the magnetic field, in which
each volume of the working fluid acts against the electromagnetic directional motion
retarding stream. In this way, the kinetic energy of the working fluid flow is ulti-
mately converted into the energy of the electric current.
There are plasma and liquid metal MHD installations. These installations are
divided according to the type of working fluid. Furthermore, these settings can be
open and closed loop. Open cycle plants use the working fluid only once and are
treated as add-ons to conventional steam power plants running on fossil fuel. In
MHD facilities, closed cycle working fluid undergoes cyclic changes, repeatedly
passing the working volume of the MHD generator. These settings may use a nuclear
reactor as a heat source.
There are three ways to use nuclear reactors in MHD facilities.
1. Fast neutron reactors use liquid metals as a coolant. Liquid metals (LM) are
capable of conducting electric current and they are ideal working fluids for magne-
tohydrodynamic (MHD) generators. However, the difficulty is that it takes more
velocity, w, which in plasma MHD generators is obtained by expansion in the nozzle.
LM is incompressible and dispersion through expansion is impossible. If pump dis-
perses, it will take more energy than what is produced in the end. Some techniques
overcome this disadvantage: part (up to 12%e13%) evaporated LM (injection
method); and added (30%) gas (two-phase flow diagram). Both methods make the
working fluid compressible in an MHD generator.
2. Gas-cooled reactor. The working fluid is a plasma consisting of inert gas.
Plasma is obtained by heating it in a nuclear reactor. In this case, the problem is
obtaining very high temperatures of working fluid and at the same time ensuring
the stability of the reactor materials.
3. The gas-phase nuclear reactor. The working fluid is a fissile material in a
gaseous state. It is pumped through the reactor so that the release owing to fission
heat is carried away by the flow of the working fluid. Unlike conventional nuclear
reactors, in conventional solid fuel, heat from it is taken away in liquid or gaseous
coolant.
In the third scheme, the gas-phase reactor, it is possible to raise the temperature
of the working fluid to 10,000 K values or greater. At this temperature, the fissile
material is ionized into a plasma without requiring an ionizing additive.
The working medium in the gas phase reactor can be the vaporized uranium or
any sufficiently volatile compound, such as uranium hexafluoride (UF6), subliming
FIGURE 1.9
Magneto-hydrodynamic installation with gas-phase nuclear reactor.
at T ¼ 53 C and atmospheric pressure. This UF6 property allows MHD installation
to implement the same thermodynamic cycle as in a conventional steam power plant.
A possible schemes for an MHD plant with a gas-phase nuclear reactor is shown in
Fig. 1.9.
In the condenser, the water evaporates and is involved in a conventional steam
power cycle, giving energy to the turbine. The regenerative heat exchanger, UF6,
extending into the reactor is heated to the desired temperature as a result of the
high-grade heat UF6, spent in the MHD generator.
2.4.2 Nuclear rocket engine

Nuclear rocket engines (NRE) are directly converted to heat produced by the fission
of heavy nuclei in the nuclear reactor, the kinetic energy of movement of a rocket.
When organizing manned expeditions to planets of the solar system, humanity will
inevitably come replace chemical rocket engines (HRE) with NRE. Only NRE can
provide the necessary motion parameters that guarantee a return expedition to Earth.
Understandably, high-quality NRE can be ensured only if the ground nuclear po-
wer is of sufficiently high development. This inspires optimism for the development
of domestic nuclear energy, because by its nature, humanity must strive to reach at
least the closest planet to Earth.
Using only the simplest information from the general physics and theory of
rockets, we will compare the HRE and NRE. The HRE working body itself is a
source of energy, which then can be used in rocket motion energy. Energy arises dur-
ing the combustion of chemical fuels and a corresponding increase in combustion
temperature compared with the initial fuel temperatures and oxidizer. The composi-
tion of the working fluid of these engines must include an oxidizing agent, preferably
as efficient as possible, such as oxygen or fluorine. The means that:
1) except in rocket fuel, it is necessary to carry the same large extra load of oxidant;
2) the carriage-efficient oxidant in large quantities is dangerous, which is especially
important for manned missions.
Because the rockets move in accordance with the law of conservation of mo-
mentum, it is necessary for the working fluid to be ejected from the rocket at the
greatest possible speed. Accordingly, the most important characteristic is the quality
of the rocket thrust:
R ¼ m v.
where m is mass flow rate of the working fluid and v is exhaust velocity from the
nozzle. It is known that the velocity of the gas at the outlet of the nozzle is an ideal:
pffiffiffiffiffi
Tk
Vw
M
where Tk is the gas temperature upstream of the nozzle and M is the relative molec-
ular mass of the flowing gases.
From these equations, immediately visible NRE advantages may be compared
with HRE.
1. The maximum speed that can be achieved in the HRE is:
V 6.5 km=s
The atomic mass of the working fluid cannot be less than 18 in a chemical rocket
engine. This is due to the presence of oxidizing atoms in the working fluid. The
NRE may be one of hydrogen working fluid from M ¼ 1. From the latter equation,
it follows that because of this (i.e., at the same Tk), speed expiration can be increased
to about 18 times (i.e., three to four times). An increase of possibly even more in-
creases this advantage.
2. Because of the heat source of the NRE (a nuclear reactor, and thus no chemical
burning or burning of fissile nuclei), there is no need to have an onboard
oxidizer. The mass and dimensions of the engine and its systems are noticeably
reduced.
The huge energy consumption of nuclear fuel allows one to realize these benefits.
Fig. 1.10 shows a typical circuit NRE.
Fig. 1.10 requires only one comment: supply the working fluid (indicated by ar-
rows) arranged through the wall of the nozzle in order to, firstly, to cool them, and
secondly to utilize the heat inevitably emanating from the nozzle wall, for increasing
efficiency by preheating the working fluid prior to entering the reactor.
This chapter discusses how to convert fission energy into useful work. These
methods are either already mastered (steam power, thermoelectric, thermionic) or
have a good implementation prospect (magnetohydrodynamic generator, nuclear
3. Materials for nuclear reactors: classification of nuclear reactors 13
FIGURE 1.10
Scheme of nuclear rocket engine.
rocket engines). This perspective is prepared by developed modern technologies and

scientific and technical potential of advanced countries.
3. Materials for nuclear reactors: classification of nuclear

reactors
Because fuel is concentrated in fuel rods, it is the main element of a nuclear reactor
core. Only by knowing the type design of the fuel elements is it possible to under-
stand what materials are best to produce.
3.1 Types of fuel element structures

The main structural elements of a typical fuel element are depicted in Fig. 1.11.
FIGURE 1.11
Typical fuel element structure. 1, End part of fuel rod; 2, Shell; 3, Shielding volume; 4,
Separation element; 5, Gas gap; 6, Fuel core; 7, Central hole; 8, Distance element.
Comments on Fig. 1.11:

1. The active volume is filled with fuel with a specific enrichment of fuel (0.7%
e90%).
2. The screening volume is filled with uranium-238 or a reflector.
3. The gap is filled with gas or a good heat-conducting material to provide large
heat fluxes.
4. The gas volume for collecting gaseous fission fragments and the holding pressure
in a fuel rod are within the allowable range (but not always).
5. In the case of the production of the screen and fuel from corrosion-interacting
materials, separation elements are placed between them.
6. The central opening is used to collect gaseous fission fragments and compensate
for possible fuel swelling.
7. The distance element is designed to provide the required flow cross-section
between adjacent fuel rods.
8. The end pieces are used to secure the fuel rods in the fuel assembly.
3.1.1 Types of fuel rods

1. Cylindrical:
a) It is located in a separate cylindrical channel (fuel rods).
b) If using a lot of fuel in the same channel, it is called rod, and the whole
structure is a fuel assembly.
2. Plate (Fig. 1.12A).
3. Ring (Fig. 1.12B), washed by the coolant from both sides.
4. The tube (Fig. 1.12C), washed by the coolant only from the inside.
5. The ball (Fig. 1.12D).
It is advisable to describe materials for nuclear reactors from the place of energy
release to the periphery. This will always call attention to the merits of the materials
and their defects. Nature is structured so that there is nothing ideal. Therefore, there
are no materials ideally suited in all respects to nuclear reactors.
3.2 Fuel
Fuel is operated under severe conditions, exposure to high temperatures, variable
pressures, and thermal stresses owing to differential thermal fields. If you do not
comply with normal operating conditions, there may be corrosion and erosion.
Therefore, the fuel rods work under stressful circumstances and the process of their
mechanical properties changes. Because the fuel is irradiated, after a while, it is no
longer possible to work in direct contact (i.e., if for some reason the fuel rod ceases
to fulfill the required conditions, such as that the shell has lost tightness, it cannot be
repaired.
An important effect for the design of fuel rods in the fuel is radiation swelling.
Because of isolation of the fuel fission gases (e.g., xenon), it swells (changes geom-
etry). This effect largely determines the allowable fuel burn-up.
FIGURE 1.12
Types of fuel elements.
When you create nuclear reactors to determine the optimal design of the fuel el-
ements and suitable materials, spend a lot of experimentation, which will result in an
analysis of selected materials and fuel modes of operation. From the viewpoint of the
designer (constructor and calculators), the main limiting parameters for fuel are:
1) permissible maximum fuel temperature
2) maximum allowable burn-up.
3.2.1 Pure uranium metal

According to the neutron-physical point of view, the best material for fuel could be
considered pure uranium metal impurity nuclei with no other elements. In this case,
it is necessary to take into account the positive and negative properties of fissile ma-
terial. However, pure uranium metal is an unstable material with inclined formability
at high temperatures.
The maximum temperature at which it can still work without significant swelling
and forming is 400 C. For example, when T ¼ 500 C, swelling reaches 20%.
The maximum burnup can be no more than 1% of fissile nuclei in nuclear fuel.
The pure uranium metal-corrosion active material reacts with almost all mate-
rials used in the reactors to 400 C. For reasons outlined earlier, pure uranium metal
may be used in reactors where fuel T is less than 300e400 C.
3.2.2 Alloyed uranium metal

To improve the properties of uranium metal, it is typically alloyed with molybdenum
(up to 10%). The more molybdenum, the higher limit temperature (up to
650e715 C) is the burn limit (2.5%e2%). Corrosion properties are also improved.
For example, the allowable temperature in contact with stainless steel becomes
550 C. This is a positive property.
There are also drawbacks. Doping of uranium also leads to negative effects,
because for molybdenum, parasitic neutron capture occurs in the thermal energy re-
gion, which worsens the neutron balance, especially in thermal neutron reactors.
3.2.3 Plutonium metal

The material behaves in the reactor about the same as for uranium metal. Moreover,
its operating limit is even lower. Therefore, plutonium metal is also subjected to
doping.
3.2.4 Uranium oxides and plutonium

Dioxides are used in nuclear reactors as fuel: UO2 and PuO2. The basic parameters
of these materials are shown in Table 1.1.
The disadvantages of these materials in some ways are their advantages in other
respects. For example, the relatively low density and thermal conductivity make it
necessary to reduce the size of fuel rods to prevent them from burnout caused by
exceeding the limit temperature at the center of the fuel rod. However, the “porosity”
of dioxides and the small size of the fuel elements can achieve relatively high burn-
outs, to 10% and above.
The low density and the presence of O2 are bad for fast reactors; they soften the
neutron spectrum of the core and increase the resolution.
3.2.5 Carbide uranium and plutonium

The most common monocarbides are UC and PuC. The density is higher than for
dioxides and is w14 g/cm3. The thermal conductivity is close to that of uranium
metal and is about 15e20 kcal/(m.h C) (i.e., w10 times higher than that of UO2).
The melting temperature is also high (w2450 C), which allows the fuel to be
used at temperatures up to w2200 C.
The main disadvantage is the shift of the neutron spectrum to the region of ther-
mal energies in a fast reactor due to the presence of carbon nuclei.
3.2.6 Dispersion fuel

This is a heterogeneous mixture, in which the fuel phase is (uniformly) distributed in
the non-fuel matrix material. In this case, each nuclear fuel particle is a kind of micro
fuel rod enclosed in a shell, which performs the role of the matrix.
Metallic uranium and plutonium, and their alloys, as well as various compounds,
are used as a fuel phase. Metals, ceramic materials, graphite are used as a fuel
matrix.
3. Materials for nuclear reactors: classification of nuclear reactors
Table 1.1 Basic parameters of uranium dioxide and plutonium.
Melting, Permissible, Density theoretical, Density achievable, Thermal conductivity, kk/
Material ToC T oC g/cm3 g/cm3 (m.h.oC)
UO2 w2800 w2500 w11 w8e10 1.5e2
PuO2 w2200 w2000 w11 w8e10 1.5e2
17
3.3 Construction materials

A critical part directly adjacent to the fuel is the fuel cladding. Fuel cladding works
under the difficult conditions of high temperature and active media. The most impor-
tant harmful factor is that all kinds of radiation occur in the reactor, pass through the
shell, or from the fuel out of the fuel element or the outside the fuel element to the
fuel. In addition, coatings may deteriorate upon exposure to spacing and other nodes
that contact fuel rods, causing corrosion and erosion (washout) to the heating me-
dium and from the fuel (e.g., under the influence of fission products).
On the outer surfaces of the shells corrosion products can deposit, as can other
reactor elements.
Basic requirements for materials skins are:
1. Low neutron-capture cross-section in the operating range of the reactor.
2. Corrosion and erosion resistance to the coolant at given parameters, and
compatibility with fuel and fission products.
3. High thermal conductivity.
4. Satisfactory mechanical properties (strength, ductility, and creep) with radiation
exposure, causing changes in these properties.
5. Manufacturability (i.e., possibility of manufacturing pipes and other profiles
required, weldability).
6. Cost-effective and affordable.
Options main structural materials are listed in Table 1.2.
3.3.1 Aluminum and its alloys

Aluminum and its alloys have high thermal conductivity and a low thermal neutron
capture cross-section. It can be used at temperatures up to 300 C. Therefore, it is
used in low-temperature (for example, research, pool-type) reactors, including those
in contact with uranium metal.
3.3.2 Magnesium and its alloys

Magnesium and its alloys have a low neutron absorption cross-section and high ther-
mal conductivity and are cheap and available. For example, the Magnox alloy
Table 1.2 Parameters of main structural materials.

Melting Cross-section
Density temperature, Coefficient of thermal absorbed
Material g/cm3 o
C conductivity. W/(m oC) barn
Al 2.7 660 210 0.215
Mg 1.74 651 159 0.059
Zr 6.5 1845 23.9 0.180
Stainless 7.95 w1400 14.6 2.880
steel
Graphite 1.65 w3650 130e170 0.0045
(doping w0.6% Zr, 0.8% Al) has good mechanical and corrosion properties. How-
ever, magnesium and its alloys are unstable in water. Therefore, do not use these in
water reactors. The main application of Magnox is in gas-cooled reactors, in which
the heat carrier is CO2 (English and French reactors with metallic uranium as fuel). It
is applied at temperatures up to 400 C.
3.3.3 Zirconium and its alloys

Zirconium and its alloys are good for thermal reactors. They have a low-capture
cross-section for thermal neutrons and good thermal conductivity.
However, pure zirconia does not have good mechanical properties in E. There-
fore, it is alloyed with vanadium and/or niobium. Zircaloy alloy used in Russian nu-
clear power is Zr þ (1e3)% Nb. Doping seeks to improve not only mechanical but
also corrosive properties.
Zirconium has great activity in hydrogen and O2. When T is greater than 400 C,
a vigorous reaction occurs with hydrogen: Zr dissolves hydrogen and zirconium hy-
drides are formed, in which the starting material is highly embrittled. With special
technology, this propensity is reduced. Eliminating this disadvantage is completely
is almost impossible. However, zircaloy is widely used in water-water energetic re-
actors (VVER) and reaktor bolshoy moshchnosty kanalny (RBMK) reactors.
3.3.4 Stainless steel

Steels has good mechanical properties but lower thermal conductivity than other ma-
terials and a high thermal neutron capture cross-section. It is corrosion-resistant in
water at 360 C and in steam, gases, and LM to 650 C.
The diseased thermal neutron capture cross section is not of particular importance
for fast neutron reactors. Therefore, stainless steel is the basic material of construction
for such reactors; there is good experience with their use in thermal reactors.
3.3.5 Graphite
Graphite is used for the shells in the fuel vapor of high-temperature gas-cooled re-
actors. High thermal conductivity and a very low thermal neutron capture cross-
section are great advantages of this material. Graphite is technological. From this,
it can be pressed to obtain products of various geometric shapes and is easy to
process mechanically. Graphite is well-compatible with fuel. However, it requires
strict adherence to the gas mode, because graphite burns.
To ensure the tightness of graphite claddings, coatings of pyrolytic carbon and
silicon carbide are used. Pyrocarbon is the form of graphite in which most atoms
are arranged in the form of parallel layers. It retains gaseous fission products
well, such as Xe, Cr, and silicon carbide, as a barrier effective for solid fission
fragments.
3.4 Coolant
The primary coolant of the reactor cooling circuit directly cools the fuel rods.
There are basic requirements for material coolants:
1. You should have a small neutron capture cross-section in the operating range of
the reactor.
2. You must have good thermal properties to ensure effective efficiency.
3. The energy cost of pumping must be small
4. There should not be corrosive and erosive activity.
5. There should be a little radiation-activated reactor.
6. It must be resistant to radiation and heat flow (i.e., should not decompose under
their influence).
7. The safe operation of plants must be ensured (not explode, not toxic, etc.).
Light and heavy water (H2O, D2O), gases (CO2, He, etc.), liquid metals (Na, Li,
K, Pb, Pb-Bi and others) are used as heat carriers.
3.4.1 Water
Light and heavy water differ in nuclear properties. This is important when using
them as moderators. The requirements for moderators will be discussed further.
For the rest of their properties, these two materials are the same. Therefore, as a
coolant, H2O and D2O are the same (except for their values).
Water has great heat capacity, so it requires acceptable energy for pumping. An
important advantage of water over other coolants is that it is the only working fluid
in the steam turbine cycle. Consequently, it is possible to create steam directly in the
reactor and feed it to the turbine.
Disadvantages are that:
1. The water is corrosive and erosive. It is therefore important to maintain the water
regime (water quality).
2. When a crack occurs, the uranium fuel rod interacts with water.
3. Water is (still) at the low boiling point. Therefore, it requires the creation of high
pressures in the paths if you want to have good steam parameters at the turbine.
4. As a good retarder, water may not be useful for fast breeder reactors.
5. Under irradiation, it may be subjected to water radiolysis (decomposition of O
and H).
6. Water is activated in the neutron flux.
We discuss the last two drawbacks in detail. During radiolysis, oxygen and
hydrogen are released according to the scheme:
2N2 O 4 2N2 þ O2 :
As a result, if not avoided, this may form an explosive mixture. In addition, acti-
vated oxygen oxidizes in the core structural materials and may force them beyond
the core.
Oxygen and hydrogen occur after nuclear reactions with the formation of radio-
active isotopes:
16
O ðn; pÞ 16 N þ b ; g ð7.35 s.Þ
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It was not long before they came to the main thoroughfare of
Havana, with its quaint Spanish name of Isabel Segunde. Here, as
the professor had said, were broad walks with numerous trees, and
many fountains. Here was also located the hotel for which they were
bound, a large three-storied affair, with broad verandas upon all
sides, and the usual courtyard, or patio, in the center.
“This is quite like home,” declared Darry, as he looked around. “I
have heard half a dozen folks speaking English. It’s a good deal
different from Caracas.”
“The war made the difference, Dartworth. Before that time Havana
was as foreign a town as one could find on this side of the Atlantic,
and that too although it is but a short journey from Florida.”
The walk to the hotel had tired the party, and all of the boys,
especially Hockley, were glad to rest in the patio, with its easy chairs
and its cooling fountain. From a distance came the sounds of a band
playing some popular air and the effect was most soothing.
“This is what I want,” was the tall youth’s comment. “Beats walking in
the hot sun all to pieces.”
“Tell you what, Glummy, the next time you walk you had better ride,”
said Frank, with a yawn.
There was a laugh at this “bull” and Hockley’s face grew sour at
once.
“How many times must I tell you not to call me ‘Glummy’? I don’t
want it and I won’t stand it.”
“All right then, sit down—it’s what we are here for,” returned Frank.
“But I’ll try to remember,” he added, as he saw that Hockley’s anger
was rising.
“See that you do,” growled the big fellow, and then he dropped into
an easy chair and soon fell asleep.
“He hasn’t got over that affair on the steamer,” whispered Mark. “He
thinks one of us ought to have had that knock-down from Captain
Sudlip.”
“Oh, let us forget Captain Sudlip,” said Frank. “I never want to see
him again. He was too mean to live.”
Professor Strong had to attend to several matters, including the
getting of money on his letter of credit, and while he was gone the
boys made themselves at home at the hotel. The quaint hostelry
possessed every comfort and all would have been content to have
remained there a long while.
But this was not to be. It had already been arranged that they should
spend three days in sight-seeing in and around Havana, and then
take side trips to Matanzas, Cardenas and other important cities not
far away. After this they were to journey to Santiago, where they
were to go out on horseback and view El Caney, San Juan, and
other battlefields of the late war.
When the professor came in on the evening of the second day, he
had a treat in store for them.
“I was passing the Tacon, the principal theater of Havana, when I
saw an announcement of a celebrated Spanish dramatic company
which is playing there in a round of standard dramas. I would like
you to see this playhouse, for its size and beauty is known all over
the world, and so I purchased tickets for to-night’s performance.”
“Good!” came from Darry and Frank in a breath.
“I’d like to see a play first rate,” said Mark. “What is it?”
“Othello. I suppose you have all seen this, so you can follow the play
even if it is in Spanish.”
“Oh, pshaw! I thought it was some Spanish variety show,” sighed
Hockley.
“I should not care to take you to a variety show, Jacob.”
“But this will be dead slow.”
“If you don’t care to go, you can stay here.”
“I guess I’ll stay here then,” answered Hockley. “I’ve got something of
a headache, anyway. I’ll go to bed early.”
Hockley’s headache was largely imaginary, and his thoughts were on
another novel he had picked up, “Handsome Jack, the Dead Game
Sport of Chicago.” He had left off where Handsome Jack was
confronted by four gamblers who wished to rob him of his fifty
thousand dollar diamond stud, and he was anxious to read on and
find out how the “hold-up” terminated.
“Very well, Jacob,” said Professor Strong. “If you have a headache I
think the best thing you can do is to sleep it off. Probably the sight-
seeing has been too much for your eyes.”
At the proper hour the boys were ready to attend the performance at
the Tacon. They were attired in their best, for at this opera house,
people invariably wear the finest clothing they possess. The
professor called a carriage, and soon they were rolling down the
broad highway.
“How foolish Hockley is,” whispered Frank to Mark. “He doesn’t know
what he is missing. Do you think he’ll really go to bed?”
Mark shrugged his shoulders. “It isn’t likely. He’ll read another trashy
novel, I fancy.”
Mark was right, as we already know. But this was not the depth of
Hockley’s shortcomings.
The youth had a strong desire to be considered “mannish.” He
wanted to follow in the footsteps of certain men he had known and
others he had read about. The character of Handsome Jack, “the
Dead Game Sport of Chicago,” appealed strongly to him. Jack
played cards, drank, went to horse races, and always got the best of
the many enemies who tried to “down” him. To poor Hockley, who
swallowed these tales and believed them true, he was more of a
hero than even “Gold Nose Hank, the Mine Discoverer” had been.
Having seen the others off, Hockley strolled over to a cigar counter
in the hotel and invested in a package of cigarettes, one of which he
lit and placed the others in his pocket. Then he entered the café and
called for a glass of liquor, and while it was coming he sat down at a
table in a corner to continue the perusal of his novel.
The fumes of the liquor, and the smoking of several cigarettes, made
the misguided youth far from clear headed. But he kept on reading
until the volume was finished, Handsome Jack having at last killed
off all his enemies in double-quick order. To keep the eyes of the
waiter off of him, Hockley ordered another glass of liquor which he
also consumed. Then he threw the book in a corner, arose and
stretched himself.
“Guess I’ll go out and have some sport,” he muttered. “It’s dead slow
hanging around like this. I came to see the sights and I’m going to
see ’em—professor or no professor. There must be lots of sport
going on in a town of this size,—variety shows, gambling, and such
—and I’m going to hunt ’em up, and if I don’t find ’em then my name
ain’t Jake Hockley!”
And paying the amount of his bill he shuffled out of the brilliantly
lighted café and was soon lost to sight in the darkness of the night.
CHAPTER IX
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HOCKLEY
“What a truly magnificent place!”

Such was Frank’s comment when they entered the opera house and
took the seats Professor Strong had purchased. Frank had been to
the Metropolitan Opera House in New York city, yet the present place
struck him even more favorably, with its immense size, its gorgeous
decorations and its many and varied lights.
“It’s all right,” returned Mark. “But I can’t say as much for the crowd.
It’s quite a mixture.”
And it certainly was, for to-day Havana has a sprinkling of nearly
every nation under the sun. As Darry put it, there were white folks
there and black folks, and a good many who weren’t one or the
other. But all were well dressed, and in the assemblage were a
number of ladies who were truly beautiful.
The Shakespearian play was well produced, and all followed it with
interest, although the boys understood but little of what was said.
Between the acts they strolled around and looked into the various
smoking and lounging rooms, and had some soda water at the
refreshment place. Nearly everybody was smoking and the
atmosphere was decidedly “hazy” in consequence.
“They used to have a curious custom here,” said the professor. “By
paying a little extra you could go behind the scenes and see how the
play looked from the actor’s standpoint.”
“Well, I’d like to see it that way, once,” answered Sam. “Especially
when they were playing something with great mechanical effects,
like a snow-storm, a landslide, a waterfall, or a smash-up on a
railroad.”
At last the play was over, and they walked out to where their carriage
was in waiting. A good part of the crowd lingered, and some went for
a stroll in the cool night air.
“They don’t believe in going to bed early,” was Mark’s comment.
“Well, I don’t blame them, it’s so nice and cool now and so hot during
the middle of the day.”
It had been arranged that all the boys should occupy two large
rooms, while the professor had a smaller room adjoining. As they
went in Amos Strong cautioned them not to disturb Hockley should
the latter be asleep.
“Why, he isn’t here!” exclaimed Mark, who was the first to look
around and make the discovery.
“Isn’t here?” came from the professor.
“No, sir, and the bed hasn’t been disturbed either.”
At once the professor’s face grew grave, and his mind went back to
a certain night in Caracas when Hockley had gone off with Dan
Markel and lost all his money. Had the youth been equally misguided
on this occasion?
“I will go below and make inquiries concerning him,” he said, and left
them.
“I’ll wager Glummy has gone and done it again,” said Frank in a low
voice.
“More than likely,” answered Sam. “How foolish for him if he has! He
might have had a very pleasant evening with us.”
“Oh, Glummy has a big head and thinks he knows it all,” came from
Darry. “Some time he’ll catch it worse than he did when he went out
with that Markel.”
So the comments of the boys ran on. In the meantime Professor
Strong had followed up Hockley from the hotel proper to the café and
here learned that the lad had come in early in the evening for a
package of cigarettes and then gone out on the street.
“Did he have any liquor?” asked Professor Strong, sharply.
“I do not think so, señor,” was the reply. This was a deliberate
falsehood, but the proprietor of the drinking resort did not wish to get
himself into any trouble.
More mystified than ever the professor went out on the street and
looked up and down. He could see nothing of Hockley, and now the
thoroughfares were becoming gradually deserted.
It must be confessed that Amos Strong was in a quandary. What had
become of his charge he could not imagine, although he strongly
feared that Hockley had gone off to see the sights and gotten into
some sort of trouble.
“I can learn nothing of him,” said he, on returning to the rooms
assigned the party. “All of you had better go to bed.”
“And what will you do, Professor?” asked Mark.
“I shall try to hunt him up. I cannot go to rest until I know something
about him.”
“Don’t you think it would be better for one of us to go with you?”
“No, I think I can get along alone.”
Such was Amos Strong’s decision, and he told them they had better
go to bed without delay. Mark and Frank were willing enough and
were soon in the land of dreams. But Darry and Sam sat by an open
window discussing the situation.
“After his experience with Dan Markel in Caracas you would think
Hockley would turn over a new leaf,” said Darry. “But he seems
bound to be wild, no matter what the cost.”
“We mustn’t judge too hastily, Darry. It is barely possible that
everything is all right.”
“Or that Glummy has gotten into trouble through no fault of his own.
If he is in trouble, he will certainly try to put it off on somebody else—
he always does.”
“It must be his nature. He can’t seem to help it.”
“He doesn’t try to help it. He wants to be smart, and when he fails he
isn’t man enough to shoulder the blame.”
For nearly an hour the boys remained at the window discussing the
strange disappearance. Then they followed Mark and Frank to bed,
and were soon sleeping with equal soundness.
The disappearance of Hockley, coupled with the fact that Professor
Strong did not return, awoke the lads early, and by seven o’clock
Darry and Sam were downstairs.
“Let us see if the professor is anywhere about,” suggested Darry,
and they were on the point of moving off when a hotel attendant
came up to them, a man from Florida who spoke English.
“Are you Samuel Winthrop?” he asked.
“I am,” answered Sam.
“I have a private note for you,” went on the attendant.
“A note? What can it mean?”
“Perhaps it’s from the professor?” suggested Darry.
Sam lost no time in tearing open the communication, which ran as
follows:
“Dear Sam: I have got myself in a tight hole and don’t
know how to get myself out of it. I am afraid the professor
will give me rats for getting into it. I think you can help me
a good deal—in fact, I know you can, if you will. Please
come to me at the Fairfax House—an English hotel. If you
bring anybody along let it be Darry. I don’t want the
professor to know of it, and please don’t tell Mark or
Frank, for they would only have the laugh on me. If the
professor wants to know, tell him you want to go on a little
private errand. Do this much for me and I will always be,
“Yours gratefully,
“J. Hockley.”
“Well, what do you make of that?” asked Sam, as he passed the
note over to his companion.
“Glummy is in some sort of fix, that’s certain,” answered Darry, after
reading the communication twice.
“He doesn’t say anything about money. I wonder what the fix can
be?”
Neither could imagine, but Sam determined to go to the Fairfax
House without delay, and inside of two minutes both were on the
way, without leaving word of their destination.
It was an easy matter to find the hostelry named, although to walk
there took longer than they had expected, for the Fairfax House was
situated in a new section of Havana and well toward the outskirts. It
was a modest, well-kept hotel, and on seeing this the boys felt
relieved.
“Looks all right,” was Sam’s comment. “Glad it isn’t the other kind.”
There was an old Cuban volante driver standing in front of the hotel,
and as they came up he accosted them in broken English.
“Pardon, señors,” he said. “Be you de gen’men by de name Winthrop
or de name Carane?”
“Yes, my name is Winthrop,” answered Sam. “And this is Mr. Crane.”
“Dat is verra fortunate, señors. You come to see Señor Hockley, not
so?”
“We did? Is he here?”
“He no here now. He had to go to udder house. He send me here to
drive you dare, señors,” and the Cuban bowed low.
“To drive to another house?” queried Darry.
“Yes, Señor Carane. Dare is my volante. Please to step in, señors.”
“Wait.” Sam caught Darry by the arm. “Is it far?” he questioned.
“Not verra far, señor—verra nice drive dis a-morning.”
“What is the matter with our friend, Mr. Hockley?”
At this the Cuban shrugged his shoulders. “Cannot tell, señor. He is
hurt in de back, I t’ink.”
“Hurt in the back!” came from both Sam and Darry.
“That looks bad,” continued the former. “Let us go to him by all
means.” And he followed the Cuban to the volante.
“It’s a wonder Hockley didn’t come straight to our hotel if he was
hurt,” said Darry. “But it’s just like him. He is as stubborn as an ox
when he wants to be.”
In Cuba the volante, or “flyer” is the national carriage. It is a two-
seated vehicle, slung on leathern straps between two very high
wheels. The shafts are fifteen feet long, and the horses are
harnessed tandem, the leader being for the postillion, or driver. It
makes a very comfortable turnout and, because of the width from
wheel to wheel, such a thing as a volante turning over is unknown.
They were soon moving over the highway at a good rate of speed.
The Cuban offered no more explanations and merely shrugged his
shoulders when questioned.
“Either he is very dumb or he doesn’t wish to explain,” whispered
Darry.
“I don’t suppose Glummy told him everything, Darry. Perhaps the
poor fellow is hurt too much for that.”
“He can’t be so badly off, or he wouldn’t have been able to write that
letter. By the way, what did you do with it?”
“Tore it up.”
They were now passing several private residences and a moment
later turned into a road which seemed almost deserted. Here the
trees grew so low down that they frequently brushed the boys’
heads.
“How much further?” demanded Sam.
“We come dare soon,” shouted back the Cuban, and whipped up his
horses harder than ever.
There was a small brook to cross and then they turned into another
side road. Here they beheld an old stone building, which looked
somewhat like a deserted convent. The windows were barred, but
the doorway stood open.
“He in dare, señors,” said the volante driver. “He have a fall not far
from here.”
The Cuban pointed to the old stone building.
“I don’t understand this,” muttered Sam. “First he said that Hockley
had to go to ‘udder house.’ Now he said he had a fall here.”
“Come on, I’m not afraid, Sam.”
So speaking Darry walked through the open doorway into the stone
building. There being nothing else to do, Sam followed, and the
volante driver came after the pair.
CHAPTER X
THE OLD CONVENT
At first both boys could see but little, for the room they had entered
was semi-dark, while outside the sun was shining brightly. But
gradually their eyes became accustomed to the gloom and then they
made out a staircase running to a floor above.
“Where is he?” demanded Sam, catching the volante driver by the
arm.
“Him up de stairs, señor. Better air up dare.”
“I should hope so,” muttered Darry and bounded up the stone steps
two at a time. Sam came on his heels, but the Cuban remained
below.
There was something of a hallway, dirty and covered with dead
leaves which past storms had blown into the barred slits of windows.
Then came a room with an iron door which stood half open.
Just then a moan reached their ears and it appeared to come from
the room. Thinking Hockley must be within they rushed past the iron
door.
“Jake, are you here?” called out Sam.
There was another moan, but where it came from puzzled both of
the lads.
“Jake, where are you?” exclaimed Darry. “We are here to help you,
Sam and I.”
Both moved forward, peering eagerly to the right and the left. There
were only two windows, each heavily barred, and they were far from
large.
Suddenly the boys heard the iron door shut and an instant later a
heavy bolt was slipped into place. Sam leaped back and shook the
barrier, to find it fast.
“We are locked in!” he ejaculated. “Darry, this is a trick!”
“A trick!” gasped the other. He too shook the door. “Hi! let us out!” he
called.
“Not just yet, my fine young fellows!” came in a strangely familiar
voice. “I did not bring you as far as this just for fun.”
“Why, it is Captain Sudlip!” exclaimed Sam, who could scarcely
believe his ears.
“Captain Sudlip, is that you?” called Darry.
“It is.”
“Where is Jake Hockley?”
“He is not far off.”
“Is he really hurt, or was it only a trick to get us here?”
“I’m not answering all your questions just yet,” returned the ex-
master of the Chester, tartly.
“If you brought us here on a fool’s errand you shall pay for it,” said
Sam.
“You had better not threaten me while you are prisoners.”
“Prisoners!” came from both.
“Do you intend to keep us prisoners?” demanded Sam.
“For the present, yes.”
“What for?”
“To pay you back for your impudence on board of my steamer, for
one thing.”
“We weren’t impudent. We merely stood up for our rights, and for the
rights of that negro you misused.”
“I won’t argue the point with you—at least not now.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Going to get back my rights. I know all about that paper your crowd
gave to my second mate. That paper was a mess of lies and I’m not
going to stand for it.”
“We simply put down the truth, Captain Sudlip,” answered Sam,
firmly. “And if you don’t let us go at once you’ll get yourself into a
worse situation than ever.”
“I can’t get into a much worse fix,” growled the ex-ship’s captain.
“I’ve lost my position and without a recommendation, too. If I can’t
get it back through your crowd I’m going to make you pay for it.
Reckon that professor of yours has considerable money, hasn’t he?”
went on Jason Sudlip, craftily.
“If he has you’ll never get any of it,” answered Darry, quickly. “I’d rot
here first before I’d let him give you any on my account.”
“And I say the same,” came from Sam.
“Reckon you’ll both sing a different tune when you are good and
hungry,” retorted the captain, but it was plain to tell by this tone that
this was not exactly the reply he had anticipated.
“Will you tell us where Hockley is?” went on Sam, after a painful
pause.
“He is not a million miles from here.”
“Is he a prisoner, too?”
“I won’t tell you.”
“How did he come to write that note?”
“I won’t tell you that either.”
The boys could now hear the volante driver calling up from below,
and a moment later they heard the captain move along the hall and
descend the stone stairs.
“Well, this is a pickle and no mistake,” grumbled Darry, when they
found themselves alone. “What do you make of it?”
“I hardly know what to make of it, so far,” was the slow answer. “For
all we know, Hockley has turned traitor to our crowd and is in with
the captain.”
“Do you think he is as bad as that?”
“If he isn’t, how did he come to write that note?”
“That’s true. But I shouldn’t think it, even of Hockley. Ever since we
saved him from that boa constrictor he has acted pretty decently, for
him.”
They moved over to the windows, to see if they could catch sight of
the captain or the volante. At first they saw nothing, but presently
they caught a flying glimpse.
“There go the both of them!” cried Sam. “Darry, we have been left to
our fate.”
“Glummy wasn’t with them.”
“No.”
“I wonder what Professor Strong will say when he finds we, too, are
missing?”
“He’ll be very much worried, no doubt of that. Perhaps he’ll set the
police on the track. I’d like to know if he found out anything about
Glummy.”
They did not intend to remain prisoners if they could help it, and so
set to work immediately, exploring every nook and corner of the
room, which was large and built in the shape of the letter L.
“I don’t see any way out, excepting by way of the iron door, and
that’s as fast as can be,” said Sam, after an hour had passed.
“Excepting we can pry off the bars from one of the windows.”
“Even if you did that, how are you going to get to the ground? It’s a
good eighteen or twenty feet. If you dropped that far on those stones
you might break a leg.”
“Oh, I’d risk a drop. Besides, we can make a rope by tearing up a
shirt, or one of our jackets. Anything to get away, to my way of
thinking.”
They examined the various bars to the windows and began
operations on one which looked to be more loose than the others.
But though they worked with a will on the mortar with their pocket-
knives, the stuff was hard and defied all their efforts.
“We ought to have one of Hockley’s dime novel heroes here,” said
Sam, grimly. “He’d twist this bar out in a jiffy.”
“Or one of the half-dime novel detectives,” returned Darry. “He’d find
a secret passageway leading down into a counterfeiter’s den, with a
trunk full of gold in the bargain.”
“Well, this is no laughing matter, Darry. That ride made me hungry. If
I had known this I’d had breakfast before I started.”
“Yes, indeed, and I’d have packed a big lunch box in the bargain,
Beans. But don’t mention food—it only makes me more hungry. Let’s
take another look around.”
“Bound to find that passageway to the counterfeiter’s den, eh? All
right, Old Flashlight, go ahead and make yourself famous.”
Both boys laughed in spite of the seriousness of the situation, and
then began another hunt around the room.
“I see something that I didn’t notice before,” observed Darry, after
searching around for quarter of an hour. “Do you see this wall? Right
above my reach it is depressed for about a foot. If you’ll boost me up
to the ledge I’ll feel around there for an opening.”
“To be sure I’ll boost you up. But don’t fall and hurt yourself.”
Once up on the ledge, Darry felt around with care. As before, he
found plenty of dirt and mixed in with this were two or three musty
books, a couple of empty bottles, and other odds and ends of no
value whatever.
“Here’s some reading for you—it will help to pass the idle hours,”
cried Darry, tossing the books to Sam.
“They are Spanish prayer books,” said Sam, examining them by the
light of one of the windows. “They are dated fifty and sixty years
back.”
“I thought I had struck rare volumes worth a few thousand dollars,”
returned Darry, dryly. “Too bad! Old Flashlight must renew his
wondrous search! If we only—hullo!”
Darry broke off short and Sam heard the creaking of rusty iron.
“What have you discovered now?” he asked, after an anxious pause.
“Discovered a door, as sure as you live!” exclaimed Darry, and now
he was quite excited. “Hurrah, it’s daylight!”
He had pushed in a small iron door and true enough both could see
a streak of sunlight beyond, streaming into a small stone
passageway. In the passageway was an iron ladder, leading to the
flat roof of the building. There was a trap door above, which the
storms of years had moved several inches out of place.
It did not take Darry long to give Sam a hand up to the ledge, and
then both boys entered the little passageway and crawled up the iron
ladder. The trap door was thrown open and they came up onto the
flat roof of the building. Near at hand was a sloping roof and also a
square tower, all much dilapidated and covered in spots with heavy
trailing vines.
“So far so good,” exclaimed Darry, as he walked over to examine the
tower. “Now if we can only get to the ground from here we’ll be all
right.”
“There must be another stairway to the lower floor, Darry.”
“To be sure, and it’s likely in the tower. Come on.”
Without much difficulty they crawled to the tower in question. Here
they found another trap door, but it was tightly fastened and although
they did their best they could not budge it.
“Stumped again,” grumbled Darry. “Did you ever see such luck?”
“I know what I’m going to do!” exclaimed Sam, suddenly. “I’m going
to climb down on the vines. I am sure they are strong enough.”
“Just the thing! Why didn’t we think of it before.”
They ran over to the edge of the tower and began to test the vines.
Then Sam let himself down a few feet and Darry did the same. Soon
they were moving downward, slowly and cautiously.
“There goes that volante again!” cried Darry, presently. “But it didn’t
have the captain in it.”
“Let us get away as quickly as we can,” came from Sam. “If we don’t
we may run into more trouble.”
“Hi, you boys, come back here!” was the cry which reached their
ears. “Come back, I say!”
In amazement, both looked up. There on the tower stood Captain
Sudlip, shaking his fist at them!
CHAPTER XI
A STRANGE STORY
It was plain to see that Captain Jason Sudlip was as much surprised
as were Sam and Darry. He had returned in the volante expecting to
find the two prisoners just where he had left them. Seeing them thus
escaping upset all of his calculations.
“Come back here, I say!” he stormed. “Come back!”
“Not much!” replied Darry. “If you want us, crawl down after us.”
“Don’t tell him that!” put in Sam, in a whisper. “He’ll go below and try
to cut us off.”
“Are you coming back?” demanded the ex-master of the Chester.
“Wait a minute until I unloosen my jacket,” returned Sam. “It’s caught
fast on a vine.”
“Gracious, you’re not going back, are you?” whispered Darry, in
dismay.
“No—we’ll fool him,” said Sam, in a still lower voice. Then he
continued aloud: “We may as well give in, Darry, he’s got the best of
us.”
“I hate to do it, but I’ll follow you,” answered Darry, also in a loud
voice. “Will you climb up first?”
“Yes. But I’m caught fast. Wait till I cut that vine loose.”
This talk reached Captain Sudlip’s ears—as it was intended it should
—and his wrathful look gave place to a grim smile.
“Thought I’d make ’em knuckle under,” he muttered.
In the meantime Sam and Darry continued to climb down with all
speed. It was hard for Captain Sudlip to look down at them but he
felt the vines moving. He waited a few seconds. Then he heard a dull
thud as both boys dropped to the ground below.
“Hi! you!” he yelled, and his face changed instantly. “Aren’t you
coming up? Well, I’ll be jiggered!”
For at that moment he caught sight of the two boys, hurrying down
the road leading away from the old convent. They were going at their
best rate of speed and soon disappeared from view.
“Lost ’em!” he muttered and shook his fist in impotent rage. “First
one and now two. I must get out of here. This spot will soon be too
hot to hold me!”
In the meantime the boys had made good their escape, with no
injury excepting half a dozen scratches from the rough vines and the
convent wall. On striking the ground their one thought had been to
put distance between themselves and their enemy, and they ran a
good way before they dropped into a walk.
“That was an adventure truly,” puffed Darry. “Wonder what Professor
Strong will say when he hears of it.”
“We ought to have Captain Sudlip locked up, Darry. Besides we don’t
know yet what has become of Hockley.”
“That’s true. What do you propose?”
Both boys stopped short, to give the situation consideration.
“Let us stop at the first house we come to. Perhaps we can get help
there. If we go all the way back to the hotel it will give the captain an
elegant chance to clear out.”
“All right, Beans, the next house it is,” answered Darry.
It was not long after this that they came in sight of a beautiful villa,
set in a mass of tropical flowers. There was an avenue of palms
leading up to the front veranda and at one side a beautiful fountain of
marble.
On the veranda they found a young lady, sitting in a hammock
reading a novel. She received them politely and they were glad to
learn that she spoke excellent English.
“Papa is not at home at present,” she said. “He left last week to go to
Key West, Florida, on business. Is there anything I can do for you?”
A long conversation ensued, and the boys learned that the young
lady’s name was Isabel Valois. Her father was a tobacco exporter
and owned large plantations both in Cuba and in Porto Rico. She
had been educated in a private seminary in Havana, but had spent
two years at a young lady’s school in the United States. She listened
to their tale with close attention and a face full of concern.
“I think I saw Captain Sudlip drive past yesterday in the volante of
which you speak. And late last night I heard somebody drive past at
a furious rate of speed. I am willing to help you all I can, but there
are at present only three old servants here and one has to look after
my mamma, who is an invalid. Perhaps it would be best for you to
take our carriage and drive back to town or to some other house for
assistance.”
“Thank you, we’ll take the carriage, if you don’t mind. Have you
somebody to drive it and show the way?”
“Yes—myself,” and she laughed merrily. “The adventure will just suit
me. While old Jose is harnessing up you shall have breakfast.”
As both were tremendously hungry they could not resist this
invitation, and soon they were seated in a broad and cool dining hall
and eating the food which was hastily prepared for them. The meal
did not take long and by the time it was over Isabel Valois drove
around with a comfortable carriage of American manufacture. They
climbed in, there was a merry crack of the whip, and off they started
in the direction of Havana proper.
Had their minds been at ease, Sam and Darry would have enjoyed
that ride thoroughly, for Isabel Valois handled the reins with skill, and
the team was a spirited one. She was what Darry called a “jolly” girl,
and as they passed along she entertained them with a bright flow of
talk, as she pointed out many objects of interest.
“I like the people from the United States,” she said, archly. “And I
was so disappointed when Cuba was not taken into the Union. But
papa says it is bound to come sooner or later.”
“And it will,” answered Sam. “But tell me,” he went on, “were you at
home when Havana was blockaded?”
“To be sure I was, and many were scared to death, for fear the big
guns on the warships would bombard our homes. Once, when a wild
shot did come this way, all the servants ran down into our cellar and
hid in a corner.”
“And weren’t you scared?” asked Darry, with a twinkle in his eye.
“No, I was not. I knew the Americans were our friends and would not
hurt us.”
“I am afraid we hurt some Cubans down at Santiago.”
“Oh, that was different. Here it was only a blockade—that was a
direct attack.”
The drive into the city of Havana took them past the Fairfax House,
and here the boys determined to stop and learn if anything had been
seen or heard of Hockley.
They had just leaped to the pavement when Professor Strong ran
forward to meet them.
“Crane and Winthrop!” he ejaculated. “What does this mean?”
“It’s a long story, sir,” answered Sam. “Have you seen anything of
Hockley?”
“No. I was looking for him the best part of the night and also for you,
after I learned that you, too, were missing. I traced Hockley and you
to this hotel by the note which you tore up and which Mark and Frank
patched together. Did you follow Hockley up?”
“We don’t know,” answered Darry, and continued soberly: “It looks as
if poor Glum—I mean Jake—had met with foul play.”
Isabel Valois was introduced, and the discovery was made that
Professor Strong had met her father years before. Then the two boys
told their story. As they proceeded Amos Strong’s face grew dark.
“This Captain Sudlip is a scoundrel!” he murmured. “We shall have
to notify the police. He has been discharged from the command of
the Chester, and it has made him vindictive.”
“So he has lost command of the steamer?” asked Darry.
“Yes. The owners were very angry that he did not have those repairs
made at La Guayra, where they would have been cheaper, it seems,
than here. Then they read the note that we signed, and Captain
Sudlip got his walking papers. I heard afterward that the owners
were tired of him as it was. But of course he lays the blame of his
discharge on us. We may have to——”
“Here comes Hockley!” broke in Darry.
He pointed up the street and all looked in that direction. It was the
lank youth sure enough, but so haggard, ragged and dirty that they
scarcely recognized him. He did not see them until he was close at
hand and then he started and flushed guiltily.
“Hockley, what does this mean?” demanded Professor Strong, but
his voice was not particularly harsh, for he saw that the big youth
had suffered.
“Oh, I’m so glad to get back,” said the truant, when he could speak.
“I’m nearly dead, sir.”
“Where have you been?”
“It’s all that Captain Sudlip’s fault, sir. He got me in a regular box,”
whined Hockley. Then he looked at Sam and Darry. “I thought he—
he carried you off, too.”
“He didn’t carry us off. We tried to follow you, after you wrote that
you were in trouble and wanted us to come.”
“I didn’t write any such note.”
“You didn’t!” burst out Sam and Darry, simultaneously.
“No, I didn’t. I wrote a note for Captain Sudlip, but it wasn’t that.”
“What was it?”
At first Hockley did not want to answer this question, but he finally
admitted that he had written a note stating that Captain Sudlip had
treated him first-class while on the Chester and that he was satisfied
the captain was a good man. He did not add that he had also written
that there was a plot against the captain, hatched out, shortly after
leaving Kingston harbor, by Professor Strong, and the second mate.
“I had to write the note. The captain had me a prisoner and he
threatened me in all sorts of ways,” concluded Hockley.
Again there was a conference, and it was decided that they no
longer needed the services of Isabel Valois, although the young lady
said she would place her carriage at their disposal as long as they
wished it.
“You must surely call on me before you leave Havana,” said she. “I
wish to hear the end of this adventure,” and Sam and Darry
promised.
On the way to the hotel at which the party were stopping Hockley
told his story in detail only leaving out the fact that he had been
drinking and that when he left the café it had been with the intention
of seeking amusement at some low theater.
“I thought I’d take a walk and try to get rid of my headache,” he said.
“I walked further than I intended, and when I was on something of a
lonely street I noticed that I was being followed. It was Captain
Sudlip, and behind him came a Cuban who was driving one of those
volantes. The captain came up to me and started to talk. He was
very friendly and humble and said if he lost his job he wouldn’t know
where to look for another. Then he asked me to ride over to the
home of one of the owner’s of the steamer and put in a good word
for him, and I consented.”
Hockley could tell but little of the ride that had followed, for the
reason that his head had been muddled by the liquor he had
imbibed. He put it down to a headache, and it is quite likely that he
did have a headache.
“At last we stopped in front of some sort of stone building,” he
continued, “and the captain took me inside. Then he laughed at me
and told me I was a prisoner. We had a fight and he knocked me
down and tore my clothing as you see. Then he made me write that
letter. He wanted me to write to the other boys but I refused. After
that he left me alone in the dark. I crawled around until I got to a
barred window. One of the bars was loose and I pulled it out and
crawled through the window. Then I started to run across a field but
fell into a hole and struck my head on a stone. I don’t know how long
I lay there. But when I got up it was light, and then I started to walk
back into town, for I hadn’t a cent left with which to hire a carriage.”
CHAPTER XII
ABOUT CUBA AND TOBACCO RAISING
By the time Hockley had finished his story the party had reached the
hotel, where Mark and Frank were found, wondering what was going
on. They still had the pieces of the torn-up note in their possession,
and now it was noticed that it was written in a crude imitation of
Hockley’s handwriting.
“Jake, we owe you an apology for having thought you wrote that,”
said Sam, frankly.
“Yes,” put in Darry. “We owe you an apology true enough. I guess
you were locked up in the same old convent we were in,” he went
on.
“I am going to proceed against Captain Sudlip without delay,” said
Professor Strong. “We have a strong case against him and he shall
suffer for his misdeeds.”
But though the professor spoke thus, to proceed was no easy matter.
When the old convent was visited no trace of the ex-master of the
Chester was to be found, nor could his whereabouts be traced from
the Fairfax House. The Cuban who had driven the volante had
likewise disappeared.
“Stumped!” said Darry, laconically. “He knows enough to keep shady.
He won’t show himself until after we are gone, and neither will that
rascally Cuban.”
Owing to what had occurred, it was resolved to remain in Havana for
the balance of the week, and during the next few days all the boys
spent a large part of their time in sight-seeing. They inspected Morro
Castle, and a guide explained how it had been fortified during the
Spanish-American War, and they also visited some of the other
fortifications. Next came a trip to the post-office, treasury building,
the military offices and the cathedral. At the latter place they were
shown an urn said to contain the bones of Columbus.
“Are they really his bones?” asked Mark.
“More than likely,” answered Professor Strong. “Yet this statement
has often been disputed. Some say the bones are in Spain and
others that they are in South America. It matters little where his
bones lie. The fame of Columbus will ever remain the same.”
After the visit to the cathedral came another to the public art gallery,
and the museum, and they also visited both the Cuban and the
English cemeteries, beautiful spots, with many tall and imposing
monuments. They also drove out to Principe Castle and spent two
days at other points in the suburbs.
A railroad runs from Havana, south-westward to Pinar del Rio, a
distance of about a hundred miles, and it was decided that one day
should be spent at this city, the most important in the extreme
western section of Cuba. This railroad was formerly of small
importance but since the dawn of Cuban liberty, matters have taken
a brisker turn.
“They had the same trouble here that they are having in South
America,” said the professor, during the journey. “The natives do not
take to the cars, no matter how low the fare. They prefer to journey
on muleback or on foot, even though it takes much longer.”
“What a difference between that and our own country,” said Frank,
with a laugh. “Just let a railroad lop off an hour from the running time
between New York and Chicago, or between Chicago and San
Francisco, and everybody runs to ride on that railroad.” And then all
laughed.
“How large is Cuba?” asked Darry. “I did know, but I stored the
knowledge away so carefully that I’ve forgotten where I put it.”
“Cuba is, roughly speaking, over seven hundred miles from east to
west, and from fifty to a hundred miles from north to south. It
contains nearly forty-four thousand square miles of territory, but a
large portion of this is either very rocky, as in the mountains, or else
very marshy, as along the seacoast. There is a mountain range
running almost the entire length of the island. It is called the Sierra
del Cobra, and boasts of one peak, the Pico de Torginno, 7,670 feet
high. Besides this range of mountains there are numerous hills,
particularly in the east.”
“What of the rivers?” asked Frank.
“As in Jamaica the rivers do not amount to a great deal, for the water
flows directly from the mountains into the sea. There is one, called
the Cauto, which empties on the south coast, just north of
Manzanillo. This can be navigated by small craft for a distance of
sixty miles. But there are a number of bays which make good
harbors. The one at Santiago de Cuba is particularly fine.”
“Where the great fight came off, and where Hobson sunk the
Merrimac!” cried Sam. “We must see that by all means. I once saw
the Merrimac, but she was only a coal boat at that time.”
“The Monitor sunk the Merrimac,” came from Hockley, who was half
asleep in his seat. And then as the other boys began to laugh he
straightened up. “What are you laughing at anyway?” he growled. “I
know I’m right.”
“We are talking about the Spanish-American War, not the Civil War,”
explained the professor.
“Oh!”
“There are only two great industries in Cuba,” went on Professor
Strong. “But some day there will be a third. The two are tobacco and
sugar. They dominate trade and have made many Spaniards and
Cubans rich. The town we are now bound for, Pinar del Rio, is the
center of trade of the Vuelta Abajo tobacco district. The folks for
miles around do nothing but raise tobacco.”
“And what will that third industry be?” asked Darry.
“The development of the mineral resources of the island. There are
large quantities of minerals in the mountains, and sooner or later
companies will be organized to dig them out. The very name of the
mountain, Sierra del Cobra, means Copper Mountains.”
“I’d like to explore those mountains,” said Mark. “It would be lots of
fun to peep down into an extinct volcano or two.”
“We can do that when we get to other places, Mark. South America
is full of old volcanoes.”
“That’s the talk!” cried Frank, enthusiastically. “We’ll become volcano
explorers. It will be fine. Who knows but that we may find a fortune in
gold.”
The ride to Pinar del Rio soon came to an end. The boys were
somewhat disappointed in the town, which boasts of about nine
thousand inhabitants. There are but few public buildings of note and
everything looked rather hot and dusty. But the tobacco warehouses
were something new to them, and the professor had a Cuban who
could speak English take them around.
“Tobacco is grown in various ways in different countries,” said the
professor, as they walked around. “But the usual method, and the
easiest, is to plant the seed in a specially prepared garden, or hot-
house frame. As soon as it is up a few inches the plants are taken to
the field and each is set out on its own little hill. Plants, to be good,
require constant care, especially against the insects, that would
otherwise eat holes in the leaves and render them of small value.
“When the leaves are full grown the plant is cut down and the leaves
are hung up, ends down, to dry. From this drying process they are
taken to the curing shed where they are thoroughly cured, after
which they are ready for packing, in hogsheads or large cases. How
they make cigars you saw down in Venezuela.”
“My father frequently has cigars that are all spotted,” said Mark.
“What do the spots come from?”
“If they are genuine they come from a gum in the leaf, which appears
on the surface when the leaf is fully ripe. But many of the spots—
which some smokers look for—are put on artificially.”
“What about smoking tobacco and snuff?” asked Darry.
“And cigarettes?” put in Hockley.
“Smoking tobaccoes are nothing more than tobacco leaves cut up in
various ways and snuff is tobacco ground up. The smoking
tobaccoes are flavored with a hundred and one different things and
chemicals are often used to keep them moist, and this treatment is
also true of chewing tobacco. Some snuffs are allowed to rot before
being used and others are baked, and many of them are perfumed.
As to cigarettes, the best of them are made of carefully selected
tobacco leaves, cut fine, and rolled up in a high grade of specially
prepared rice paper. But the ordinary cigarette, of which millions are
sold, is made of the very commonest of tobacco, adulterated in many
ways, and is utterly unfit for smoking. These cigarettes, often used
by boys and young men, are so utterly bad that even old tobacco-
saturated Cubans—like these working around this warehouse—
cannot use them without feeling sick.”
The last words were uttered for Hockley’s benefit. The eyes of the
tall youth sought the ground and a moment later he turned away. But
it was evident that he was doing some deep thinking. A little later,
when he felt he was unobserved, he dropped a half package of
cigarettes in an out-of-the-way corner.
The ride back to Havana in the cool of the evening was delightful
and the boys enjoyed it thoroughly, that is, all but Hockley, who soon
went to sleep.
“I really can’t see why he came with us,” observed Sam to the
others, in a low tone. “He doesn’t seem to enjoy the sight-seeing a
bit.”
“He wants something more startling,” answered Frank. “He told me
this morning that everything was dead slow. He wants more sport. If
he had his way I really believe he’d turn in to paint the town red, as
they call it.”
“I don’t believe he told us the whole truth about his meeting with
Captain Sudlip, do you?”
“No, I don’t. I think he went out for a good time and perhaps he had
some liquor.”

Advanced Security and Safeguarding in The Nuclear Power Industry: State of The Art and Future Challenges 1st Edition Victor Nian (Editor)

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Advanced Security and Safeguarding in

the Nuclear Power Industry: State of the

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for

Platform embedded security technology revealed

Special Operations from a Small State Perspective:

Additive Manufacturing of Titanium Alloys State of the

Advances in Power Engineering Part A Advances and

Citizenship on the Margins: State Power, Security and

Advanced Robotics for Medical Rehabilitation: Current

The Sinews of State Power : The Rise and Demise of the

Victor Nian, PhD

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at

Publisher: Candice Janco

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

unduly overlooked. Motivated by the need to bring a balanced review of a wide-

We are most grateful of the contributing authors in delivering excellent reviews of

Victor Nian, PhD, BE

Executive Director, UNiLAB on Integrated

Advanced Security and Safeguarding in the Nuclear Power Industry. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818256-7.00001-5 1

2. Methods for converting the energy of division to useful

2.2 Heat transformation in electricity through mechanical work

2.3 Direct conversion of heat into electricity

2.3.1 Thermal electric generators.

2.3.2 Thermoelectric generator accepted quality measure Q factor

2.3.3 Thermal electron energy converter

2.3.4 Where is the required voltage?

2.4.2 Nuclear rocket engine

rocket engines). This perspective is prepared by developed modern technologies and

3. Materials for nuclear reactors: classification of nuclear

3.1 Types of fuel element structures

Comments on Fig. 1.11:

3.1.1 Types of fuel rods

3.2.1 Pure uranium metal

3.2.2 Alloyed uranium metal

3.2.3 Plutonium metal

3.2.4 Uranium oxides and plutonium

3.2.5 Carbide uranium and plutonium

3.2.6 Dispersion fuel

3.3 Construction materials

3.3.1 Aluminum and its alloys

3.3.2 Magnesium and its alloys

Table 1.2 Parameters of main structural materials.

3.3.3 Zirconium and its alloys

3.3.4 Stainless steel

“What a truly magnificent place!”

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