A description is given of the test series conducted in conjunction with the SNAP Aerospace Safety Program. The principal objective of the tests was to obtain data and information for evaluating the hazards occurring before, during, and after the flight of the SNAP 10A reactor. The results of these tests will provide a means for developing criteria to guide in the design of inherently safe SNAP systems. (auth)

A Fortran subroutine was written to scale floating-point data and generate a magnetic tape to plot it on the Calcomp 570 digital plotter. The routine permits a great deal of flexibility, and may be used with any type of FORTRAN or FAP calling program. A simple calling program was also written to permit the user to read in data from cards and plot it without any additional programming. Both the Fortran and binary decks are available. (auth)

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8 7 6 2 ; 7 4 7 6 : 7 8 : : ; half life of 3.781 plus or minus 0.010 years based on calorimetric measuiements. The calorimetric assay of the sample will be continued ior several years to decrease the probable error. The decay scheme for /sup 209/Po--/sup 209/Po/ isitopic mixtures is being determined. The gamma spectrum is being studied using two sources of different isotopic composition. Definite peaks were established at 76, 260, 300, 575, and 9l0 kev. Various multiple coincidence experiments indicated that the 300- and 575-kev photons and the 76-kev x-ray are in triple coincidence. Relative intensities of the various gamma rays from the two different sources indicated that the 575-kev photon is associated with /sup 208/ Po decay, while the 260- and 910-kev states are attributed to /sup 209/Po. A theoretical estimate of the partial alpha half life for /sup 208/Po decay to the 2+ level in /sup 204/Pb (at 0.899 Mev) was made. This value (2.5 x 10/sup 6/ years) was determined graphically by extrapolation to an alpha particle energy of 4.2l1 Mev. /sup 209/Po--/sup 2o9/Po sources are being prepared for the investigation of the internal conversion electron spectra of these isotopes. …

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Three silicone-based conductive adhesives were formulated and evaluated. One of the formulations had a resistivity of 0.089 ohm-centimeter after aging one week. After the same period the other two formulations had resistivities of 0.871 and 38.0 ohm-centimeters, Erratic adsorptive behavior of / sup 140/Ba was traced to in impurity in the Ba--/sup 140/La stock solution. Repurification by cation exchange did not improve the reproducibility of the separations, possibly because impurities are reintroduced by the distilled water. Definite improvement was noted when the /sup 140/Ba was separated from /sup 140/ La and other hydrolyzable materials by residue adsorption methods. A calorimetric measurement of a salt sample over a period of 148 days gave a tritium half life of 12.361 plus or minus 0.028 years. This value confirmed the earlier value of l2.355 plus or minus 0.028 years. The /sup 208/Po--/sup 209/Po mixture returned from Argonne National Laboratory is being processed further. Two batches of polonium-contaminated organic material were wet-ashed in nitric and perchloric acids. Further purification will be by techniques similar to those presently used for separating /sup 210/Po from bismuth. An unidentified gamma activity was found in the polonium that was recovered from pieces of Monel fluorination apparatus. The optimum …

Using six hot-wire columns and three concentric tube thermal diffusion columns a cascade system was arranged to produce 0.04 g of 90% C/sup 13/ per day using methane as the feed gas-. The ten liter shipment of purchased methane enriched to 60% C/sup 13/ was received. This gas will be enriched to 90% C/slup 13/. Before removing the equilibrated gas from the concentric tube columns in preparation for using methane enriched in C/sup 13/ as feed material, a sample of methane taken from the bottom of the last column contained greater than 65% C/sup 13/. The hydrolysis of protactinium was found to be completely controllable and reversible and can serve as the basis for its separation from other elements, particularly its decay products. The tendency to hydrolyze is not a unlque characteristic of protactinium, but is exhibited, under appropriate conditions, by Th/sup 227/ and Ra/sup 223/ at trace levels. Traces of protactinium in 1N H/ sub 2/SO/sub 4/ can be removed from solution by a coarse glass wool filter through which the decay products pass readily. The reverse is true if the H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ concentration is increased to 6N. The desorption of protactinium from platinum was a function of …

Tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of a 10-in. flow controller in sodium at temperatures up to 1200 deg F. Torque tube reliability was determined by extensive mechanical cycling tests and further checking with a helium mass-spectrometer leak detector. Flow control performance and valve vibration characteristics were tested and evaluated and flow rate limits were established. The valve assembly was subjected to a thermal shock test program simulated to represent the most severe conditions likely to be encountered during a minimum l0-yr lifetime. (auth)

The objectives of an oxide core destructive test program at the Spert I reactor facility are reviewed. The proposed experimental program of destructive tests on a low-enriched oxide core, the experimental results of nondestructive transient tests that were obtained on the test core and the extrapolation of these results to the destructive case, an analysis of the hazards involved in performing such destructive tests, and a detailed description of the reactor facility and environmental conditions are presented. The supervision and control of personnel during and after each destructive test, and of the plans for reentry, cleanup, and restoration of the facility are discussed. The water- moderated core that will be used for these experiments is mounted in the Spert I open-type reactor vessel, which has no provision for pressurization or forced coolant flow. The core is comprised of approximately 600 4%-enriched UO/sub 2/ fuel rods clad with stainless steel, and four blade-type, gang-operated control rods for reactor control. Reactor transients are initiated at ambient temperature by step-insertions of reactivity, using for this purpose a special control rod that can be quickly ejected from the core. On the basis of the results obtained from previous nondestructivelkinetic tests, an analysis was made …

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Abstract: A series of clean critical experiments was performed in the SGR critical facility utilizing 2 wt % enriched, uranium metal, hollow cylinder, fuel elements, in AGOT graphite moderator.

Abstract: An experimental and analytical research program is described which is designed to meet certain specific needs for data and methods required to make improved predictions of transient voids, burnout, flow, and fuel temperature during extreme accidents in sodium-cooled reactors.

These data are provided: Masses and .Mean Lives of Elementary Particles; Atomic and Nuclear Properties of Materials; Particle Scattering; Atomic and Nuclear Constants; Particle Decay and Reaction Dynamics; Tentative Data on Strongly lnteracting Particles and Resonances; and Clebsch-Gordan Coefficients and Spherical Harmonics.

Cesium separation from Purex alkaline supernatant waste by ion exchange with inorganic zeolites or phenolic resins was investigated. High cesium loadings were obtained with AW-400, a synthetic zeolite manufactured by the Linde Company. A disadvantage of the AW-400 is the poor quality of the binder; efforts are being made to obtain a more suitable binder. Optimum loading conditions appear to be a flow rate of one to two column volumes of actual waste per hour, with 20-50 mesh exchanger at a temperature of 25 deg C. A scrub or sodium removal step can be accomplished with several solutions; dilute ammonium carbonate solutions are preferred for aged alkaline supernatant wastes. Cesium is eluted with a solution of ammonium carbonate and ammonium hydroxide. Exchangers that are most selective for cesium and have the highest loadings also require the greatest elution volumes. Ammonium carbonate can be volatilized by heating, leaving a cesium solution that is very satisfactory for subsequent packaging operations. Under practical conditions a Cs/Na DF of 10/sup 3/ and cesium recovery of > 99% can be obtained. (auth)

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As a part of the effort to establish the vapor pressure of /sup 3/He as the international temperature scale between 0.3 and 3.2 deg K, the manometric contections from /sup 4/He to /sup 3/He are being determined. The results of a single run did not agree with the predicted values. Calculations indicated that a two to one thermal diffusion column cascade is more efficient than a three to one cascade for separation of neon isotopes. Gaseous impurities in neon were reduced from 3.40 to 0.26% by passing the impure gas through a charcoal trap at liquid nitrogen temperature. About 15 liters of gas containing 9% /sup 78/Kr and /sup 80/Kr were accumulated. Calculations to determine the shape factors for the thermal diffusion system were completed. A six-stage cascade system was converted to an eight-stage cascade system of ten hot-wire and concentric-tube columns. Prior to the conversion the sixstage system enriched natural methane to 74%. Additionally, 74% of that enriched methane product was mass 17. The concentric-tube columns completed the purification of a commercially enriched methane from 60% to over 90% /sup 13/C in the total carbon, About eight grams of the methane product were accumulated. A method was developed for …

A diffusion couple technique was developed and standardized for the purpose of obtaining meaningful data regarding the diffusion kinetics of the Al-- Ni--U system. The technique entailed hot pressing under a dynamic vacuum and subsequent isothermal soaking treatments within evacuated quartz tubes for periods of 10 to 7000 hr at temperatures of 850, 750, 850, andd 950 deg F. In addition, the nickel barrier bond between Type 1100 aluminum cladding and cast U- 3.5% Mo fuel alloy was metallographically examined on four fuel cylinders fabricated according to Piqua procedure. One cylinder was inspected in the as fabricated'' conditions, and the three others after 1000, 2000, and 4000 hr of isothemnal soaking in Santowax OMP at 750 deg F in an autoclave under 100 psig of nitrogen. The following conclusions were obtained: 1) The penetration of aluminum into nickel followed a parabolic relationship with time. The penetration coefficient was graphically determined as a function of temperature. 2) The nickel penetration data generated by the diffusion couple technique were slightly higher thand those derived from the cylinder bond study. The maximum discrepancy was 20%. This disagreement was attributed to the geometry of the tubular specimens and to the interface displacements which occurred …

Progress in the development of the Sioux Falls Power Reactor is reported. Information is presented on: reactor physics of first core high-enriched boiler fuel elements; design and performance testing of in-core ion chambers, calibration wire, and monitoring system; testing and inspection of core components; irradiation testing of reactor vessel material; instrumentation development; and startup testing program. (N.W.R.)

MOUND LABORATORY PROGRESS REPORT FOR APRIL 1963. (Abstract too long to run in Kurzweil program)

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