This following report discusses certain topics pertinent to the x-ray photometric method, such as the optimum size of sample and of sample concentration, the technique of measurement for high precision, the use of easily prepared uranium standards for future calibrations and corrections for extraneous substances, and it compares results obtained by both x-ray and chemical assays.

Report discussing studies regarding the properties and nuclear constants of xenon, an element relevant to use of high power thermal neutron reactors.

Report describing the effects of pile irradiation on fuel materials and coil springs for the Submarine Intermediate Reactor. The investigation was called for by Hanford Irradiation Request No. 79. Results of investigation are detailed in the report.

Report discussing studies regarding active atmospheric particles in several United States cities. Experimental data of particles collected in filters is given.

Basis: "It is desired to test the effect of neutron flux on the creep rate of zirconium. These data will greatly add to the metallurgical information needed for design specifications of reactor components utilizing this metal."

Report describing "the effects of variable graphite conductivity and of the gas layers in the lattice" under the assumptions that "graphice conductivity varies as a power of the distance from the center of each cell" and "uniform distribution of heat sources" - from abstract.

The heat generated by reactor fuel elements create thermal gradiants which cause thermal stresses of considerable magnitude. An elastic solution for these thermal stresses can be calculated with the equations given in Timoshenko's and Goodier's book (1) on elasticity if the fuel element is assumed infinite in length. An exact elastic solution for a finite cylindrical fuel element is given in this report in order to evaluate the effects of fuel element length on the thermal stresses and the effects of having the free end material distorting the end closure.

The dependence of the resonance integral for thorium upon geometry and thorium temperature has been determined through reactivity coefficient measurements performed in the Hanford Test Pile. The geometry dependence was investigated using thorium cylinders of various diameters in the form of solid elements and shells. The temperature dependence (Doppler broadening) was studied by heating thorium elements and permitting them to cool while observing the change in pile reactivity.

The Metallurgy Research Sub-Section at HAPO has conducted a research and development study of a variety of nuclear fuel materials. A summary of the status of the program currently being conducted on ceramic fuel material and a brief discussion of the future program is outlined below.

In the analysis of problems involving transient flow and heat transfer in steam-water mixtures, it is necessary to derive an approximate integral equation of motion for a non-ideal compressible fluid in a duct having finite discontinuities in flow geometry. This equation is derived in this document.

Buckling measurements were taken with hollow natural uranium slugs in graphite-moderated lattices, in which the lattice spacing was varied from 6 3/16 to 15 inches in five steps. A 1.66" O.D. slug was used with two different core sizes, 1.11" I.D. and 0.81" I.D. The results of wet (water in the core) and dry measurements are reported. Buckling curves are given showing the effect on the buckling of coring the slug and placing water in the core. Simple three-region diffusion theory is applied to the measured lattices in an effort to correlate measurement with theory, but with only limited success.

Some data on the temperature effect in pulse columns are reviewed. New data obtained with the "vibrational" stirrer are reported. The effects on both the dispersion and coalescence and the net rate of extraction suggest that improved operation of the RA column and lowered waste losses would be expected at elevated temperatures.

Many factors are responsible for the rapid growth of analytical chemistry during the past ten to fifteen years. One of the most important of these factors is the greatly increased significance to present day chemistry of many elements that in the recent past were principally chemical curiosities. Since the Atomic Energy program is concerned with many such elements, it is of interest to discuss the cause for this concern and the resulting effect on the field of analytical chemistry. A number of pertinent analytical research problems at Hanford will be cited as examples.

During the period when the writer mixing fuel element was being evaluated, a small Litton glass lathe and a General Electric Fillerarc welder were used to weld the mixing spool to the fuel element. Due to the condition of these units and to the numerous difficulties encountered with them, it was deemed necessary to design and procure a semi automatic welding unit which could weld in excess of three hundred fuel elements per day.

A knowledge of the surface tension of metals is a valuable tool in many aspects of physical metallurgy. Surface tension is a prime factor in such phenomena as swelling, nucleation and growth, and corrosion by liquid metals, and is also of importance in brazing. casting, and sintering. This survey was initiated to facilitate the selection of an experimental technique for determining the surface tension of uranium in support of current swelling studies of irradiated uranium. It is believed that swelling in uranium in support of current swelling; studies of small bubbles of fission gases (krypton and xenon), and the forces resisting the expansion of these bubbles are the elastic and plastic flow energies and surface tension of the metal. Experimental techniques for the determination of surface tension of solids are still in the development stage, but three techniques appear to be most feasible. These methods are: (1) the mechanical method, in which a tensile lead is used to counterbalance the contractile force of surface tension; (2) the thermal etching method, involving measurement of the dihedral angle at the root of etched grain boundaries; and (3) the electron diffraction method, which analyzes surface tension by the amount of lattice distortion it …

The processing of irradiated fuels from power and propulsion reactors is planned by Hanford Atomic Products Operation as part of the Atomic Energy Commission's interim reprocessing scheme. The several chemical processes proposed for the reprocessing of these fuels may be divided into two categories: first, total dissolution processes which dissolve both fuel element cladding and core material and, second, selective dissolution processes which dissolve either cladding or core material. The Niflex process uses a nitric and hydrofluoric acid solution for the total dissolution of stainless steel clad uranium fuel elements.