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The deficiencies of existing standard iron and nickel samples for calibration by means of X-ray diffraction are noted. These standards cannot be used in calibration by magnetic noise recording. A new calibration method based on X-ray diffraction is proposed, using plane samples of the material employed in the manufacture of the actual structures. Theoretical analysis provides the basis for the development of null standards in which a plane sample is deformed by pure flexure or in a cantilever-beam configuration.

The existing excimer lasers with pulse durations in the nanosecond range and high pulse and average power afford a unique possibility of influencing the surface of materials and developing new, efficient technologies. It is shown in this article that surface treatment with a periodic-pulse UV laser cleans surfaces by removing oxides, reduces roughness, and increases hardness. Different variants of pulsed laser deposition of aluminum and Al2O3 are used to form protective, composite, cermet layers that suppress surface corrosion of EP-823 steel fuel-element cladding in lead in contact with air at 650–720°C.

The treatment conditions of fuel claddings of the E110 alloy by using powerful UV or IR laser radiation, which lead to the increase in the corrosion resistance at the high-temperature (T = 1100°C) oxidation simulating a loss-of-coolant accident, are determined. The possibility of the complete suppression of corrosion under these conditions by using pulsed laser deposition of a Cr layer is demonstrated. The behavior of protective coatings of Al, Al2O3, and Cr planted on steel EP823 by pulsed laser deposition, which is planned to be used in the BREST-OD-300, is studied. The methods of the almost complete suppression of corrosion in liquid lead to the temperature of 720°C are shown.

A helium-3 adsorption refrigerator cooled with a pulse-tube cryocooler is developed. The refrigerator has two stages of adsorption pumping. The first stage is designed for the condensing and pumping of helium-4, whose cooling capacity is used for the condensation of helium-3. The second stage is designed for pumping helium-3. The final temperature reached by the refrigerator is 0.305 K. This temperature is retained for at least 24 h. The time required for helium recondensation and the obtainment of low temperature is 1.5 h. The cryostat is a self-contained instrument, as it contains no external gas-supply pipelines and the working gas is stored directly within the working volume of the refrigerator. The work is performed in the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

The design of a compact ultrahigh-vacuum nitrogen-free helium cryostat is described. The volume of the helium vessel of the cryostat is 2.7 l, and the time of operation after filling it with liquid helium is >65 h. The cryostat satisfies the requirements imposed on ultrahigh-vacuum systems, allows heating to 200°C, and ensures operation at an evacuation level of 10−10 Torr.

An experiment aimed at directly detecting antineutrino-electron scattering by using a 40-MCi tritium β-active source will make it possible to lower the present-day laboratory limit on the neutrino magnetic moment by two orders of magnitude. The experiment brings together novel unique technologies in studying rare processes of neutrino-electron scattering: (i) an artificial source of antineutrinos from tritium decay of 40-MCi activity with the antineutrino flux density of about 6×1014 cm−2 s−1 and (ii) new types of detectors capable of detecting electrons of energy down to about 10 eV, namely, a silicon cryogenic detector based on the ionization-into-heat conversion effect and a high-pure germanium detector with an internal signal amplification in the electric field. A compact installation located at a specially equipped underground laboratory (≤100 mwe) will provide favorable background conditions for running the experiment. With a background level of about 0.1 event/(kg keV d) and detector assembly masses of 3 and 5 kg for the silicon and germanium ones, respectively, a limit of μ ν ≤3±10− μ B on the electron-antineutrino magnetic moment will be obtained within 1 to 2 years of data acquisition. The status of the experiment and the state of the art are presented.