The aim of the investigation presented in this work was to realise complex calculations of a new, combined water-steam system with peak-load hydrogen turbine to be applied in nuclear units with gas-cooled reactors. The system’s characteristic feature is the presence of two heat sources: a nuclear steam generator; and a hydrogen-oxygen combustion chamber. The main idea is to create a system capable to operate in two modes, with one or two heat sources, which leads to a significant output change. The investigation included also the overall efficiency of conversion of the nuclear energy, assumed the heat needed for producing hydrogen and oxygen comes from such a source. This part of the work included an analysis of the rationality of hydrogen production and utilisation. An additional aim of the research was to determine the optimal solution regarding the system performance and the capability of its technical realisation. The obtained results are promising: the system performance is very high, and its operating parameters are technically realisable in today’s conditions. In addition, it enables an emission-free, dispatchable electricity generation during the daytime demand peak.

Published for the fi rst time in 1721, Persian Letters has been relatively underestimated as a source of knowledge about Montesquieu’s philosophy of liberty. This paper analyses one of the main story lines of the novel, namely the relations between Usbek, the Persian traveller, and the wives remaining in his seraglio. It is demonstrated that these wives are in fact the fi gures of subjects — the fl attering and scheming subject of an absolute ruler, the law-abiding subject of a monarch, and the rebel who questions the very legitimacy of the lord’s authority. It is also demonstrated that the story of the seraglio wives’ rebellion explains why subjects rebel and how the rulers who abuse their power lose it.