Design criteria and operating experience with the aluminum oxide bearing and journal combination as installed in canned rotor pumps in in-pile loops are described. No pump failures occurred in 8 pumps with A1/sub 2/0/sub 3/ bearings over a cumulative period of l0,000 hours due to wear or corrosion. Five failures due to slippage and/or electrical breakdown of the stator insulation are reported. (T.R.H.)

Report issued by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory discussing annual progress made by the Solid State Division. Work and research progress made during 1957 is presented. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.

Four strut-supported, transpiration-cooled turbine blades were investigated experimentally in a turbojet engine. The blade shells were fabricated by the mold-sintering method with spherical stainless-steel powder. Two blades were investigated in order to evolve suitable capping methods for the blade tip. Two other blades were used to evaluate the durability of the porous-shell material. The blades were investigated at a turbine-tip speed of 1305 feet per second, an average turbine-inlet temperature of about 1670 F, and at a porous-shell temperature limited to a maximum of approximately 1040 F.