This is an interim report on the modifications which are being made to an existing sodium loop so that a new method of removing hydrogen from sodium can be evaluated in a flowing sodium system. Some preliminary results on the performance of this type of cold trap alternative in a static sodium system are reported. Some tentative reactor design parameters for this type of getter device are presented based on the static test results. The life of such a unit is calculated to be substantially greater than that of a cold trap of equal volume.

Process automation continued in HH Building. Production of 7% /sup 38/Ar and 99.5% /sup 36/Ar, 128 g of 90+% /sup 13/C as elemental carbon, 445 g of 90+% /sup 13/C as methane, 3350 STP liters of 99.9% /sup 3/He and 100 STP liters of 99.9995% /sup 3/He, 99% /sup 86/Kr and 70% /sup 82/Kr, 100 liters of /sup 22/Ne, 0.4 STP liter of 40% /sup 124/Xe, 0.4 STP liter of 40% /sup 124/Xe, 0.3 STP liter of 5% /sup 124/Xe, 0.25 STP liter of 20% /sup 124/Xe, and 8.5 STP liters of 80% /sup 136/Xe were produced. A total of 23 grams of /sup 37/Cl, 20.9 mg of /sup 229/Th from aged UF/sub 4/, 47,359 mg of Th, and 4.2 g of /sup 234/U were also produced. Other research and production discussed includes: helium ionization potential, liquid thermal diffusion, molecular beam scattering, mutual diffusion coefficients of krypton-noble gas mixtures, NMR studies of metal hydrides, isotope effects of diffusion in vanadium hydride, EPR studies of hydrides, and theoretical studies of hydrogen in metals.

Cost studies were done for Total Flow, double flash, and multistage flash binary systems for electric Energy production from the Salton Sea Geothermal Resource. The purpose was to provide the Department of energy's Division of Geothermal Energy with information by which to judge whether to continue development of the Total Flow system. Results indicate that the Total Flow and double flash systems have capital costs of $1,135 and $1,026 /kW with energy costs of 40.9 and 39.7 mills/kW h respectively. The Total Flow and double flash systems are not distinguishable on a cost basis alone; the multistage flash binary system, with capital cost of $1,343 /kW and energy cost of 46.9 mills/kW h, is significantly more expensive. If oil savings are considered in the total analysis, the Total Flow system could save 30% more oil than the double flash system, $3.5 billion at 1978 oil prices.

A series of experiments indicates that the principal source of impurities in the 2XIIB mirror confinement plasma experiment at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory is oxygen in the neutral beams. The dependence of 0 II 539 A emissions on neutral beam current, spatial scans of oxygen emissions, impurity injection experiments, spectral scans of the 0 VI 1032 A line, and other experiments all support this conclusion.