"Results of tests indicate that the nucerite-bearium seal system is compatible. This combination was operated as long as 9 hours without serious damage. In other work, the test rig was modified to eliminate pressure fluctuations and extraneous dirt, and Type IIA seal parts were designed."

Abstract: The erroneously high values for uranium content of salvage solutions as determined by the ether extraction-ascorbic acid procedure have been demonstrated to be due to the presence of colored organic materials in these solutions. Evaporation of such solutions to fumes of HC104 before extraction has been shown to be completely successful in preventing such interference while pretreatment with activated carbon is sufficiently successful for application in Control laboratories. Complete procedures for application of either protreatment and results of such application to composite salvage solutions received over a six-month period are included.

The following report provides data that was discovered from a preliminary literature survey that was made to define the utility of the newer refractory ceramics or ceramic-based materials.

Tory 11-A, the first experimental reactor in the Pluto nuclear ramjet program, will be tested in late 1960 at the Nevada Test Site of the Atomic Energy Commission. The fundamental objective of Tory II-A is to demonstrate that a high power density, high-temperature, air-cooled reactor can be successfully designed, constructed, and operated. This application places requirements on the reactor control system which are considerably more stringent than those found in previous reactor systems, both from the standpoint of radiation environment and system performance. To fulfill the system requirements a high-performance reactor control system has been designed and built; control actuation hardware has been developed which can withstand the high-radiation environment of Tory LI-A. This actuation system features radiation-tolerant electrohydraulic components: actuators, servo-valves, solenoid valves, feedback transducers, accumulators and associated hydraulic components. To provide high reliability against undesired shutdowns while carrying out high power level transients, the Tory 11-A control philosophy includes a new concept in reactor safety: reliance on a nonlocking, fast-reset safety system during accident situations. The fast-reset system acts so as to hold the programmed power level rather than initiating an irreversible "scram" action. A reactor "scram", if tolerated, could produce thermal shocks which would seriously damage the …

Several experiments have been performed at ORNL with light water solutions of uranyl nitrate (highly enriched in either U^233 or U^235) in an essentially bare sphere 27 inches in diameter. This report presents the results of several calculations with elementary bare reactor theory and a discussion of the observed discrepancies between the calculated and experimental results. If the observed critical concentration is used in the calculations, the calculated effective multiplication constant is less than unity' thus a higher critical concentration would be predicted than is actually observed.

In the operation of nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel reprocessing plants and in-pile experiments, special provision must be made for disposal of gaseous fission products to prevents contamination of the atmosphere to an unacceptable degree. A disposal process is described in which the noble gas fission products, krypton and xenon, are delayed relative to the sweep gas by physical adsorption as they pass through an adsorbent such as activated charcoal. A theoretical plate analysis, and has been verified experimentally. The retention time for a gas present in trace concentration is proportional to the amount of charcoal in the adsorber bed and to the adsorption coefficient which is evaluated experimentally for a particular combination of materials and conditions. The retention time is inversely proportional to the volume flow rate if the sweep gas.

The use of mercury as a solvent in the recovery of uranium from spent fuels is of the interest at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The vapor pressure of mercury is lowered by increased concentration of uranium. By dew-point measurements, the vapor pressure at 175°C was found to very between 2 and 8mm of mercury, and at 375°C, between 300 and 1100 mm of mercury, depending upon composition as described below. Plots of the log of mercury vapor pressure vs. the reciprocal of absolute temperature gave a family of straight lines. Each line corresponded to one of the composition: UHg2, UHg3, UHg4, and a saturated solution of UHg4 in Hg. No Mutual solubility of the intermetallics was indicated.

In the past it was felt that the easiest way to treat a three group equation for a MTA lattice was to solve it without certain terms. This iterative procedure converged rapidly for a medium with depleted uranium fuel, and in fact, a second iteration was not needed.

Technical report discussion of the complicated problem of the spatial distribution of slowed down neutrons. The introduction covers the current research on the topic. The following chapters cover the topics: (1) approximate treatment and its limitations, (2) age-velocity distribution, (3) general scheme of treatment based on transport equation, (4) Fermi's one-dimensional model, (5) moments, (6) remarks about the distribution function, and (7) point source.

Quarterly progress on the metabolic properties of various materials, radiation chemistry, biological studies of radiation effects, health chemistry, health physics.

The experiments described in this report were designed to explore the feasibility of precipitating plutonium from 35 percent TBP in Gulf BT using peroxide, fluoride, sulfide, sulfite, sulfate, cocalate, hydroxide, iodate and phosphate ions from anhydrous, dilute and concentrated aqueous sources.

The OCUSOL-A program (ORNL-CF-57-6-4) for Univac is a modification of the Eyewash (ORNL-1925) multi-group, multi-region reactor code. The group=energy-lethargy-temperature relationship are given in Table A. The element code numbers are given in Table B. The cross sections now on the sigma-tape are given in tables in the Appendix numbered with the element code number. This technical report explains the bases for choosing the cross sections.

An investigation of the causes of observed explosive reaction of zirconium-coated uranium dioxide on dissolution in nitric acid was conducted. It was concluded that such a reaction is to be expected. Possible but unconfirmed methods of alleviating the problem are suggested.