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On Saturday morning, April 7, 1962, at about 1059 Armed Forces time, an accidental nuclear excursion occurred in the plutonium waste recovery facility (Recuplex) of the 234-5 Building. This excursion did not result in any mechanical damage or spread of contamination. Three employees of the General Electric Company received overexposures to gamma and neutron radiation. None were fatally exposed; in each case the overexposure was recognized promptly, and following medical observation and testing the men were released to return to work. In compliance with AEC Manual Chapter 0703, an AEC-HAPO committee composed of two AEC employees and five General Electric employees was appointed by the Manger, HOO, with the concurrence of the General Manager, HAPO, to conduct an investigation of the incident. The committee`s purpose was to determine the cause, nature, and extent of the incident, and recommend action to be taken by others to minimize or preclude future incidents of this magnitude. A study of operating practices and operating conditions that appeared to exist prior to, during, and subsequent to the accident was made by the committee. The committee believes that this report provides sufficient information to answer questions which may arise as a result of the criticality incident …

The fairly recent discovery that tritium is a product of uranium fission prompted the analysis of separations plant waste streams and the local ground water for this radionuclide. The purpose of the sampling and analytical program was to determine the concentrations and relative distribution of tritium in cribbed-waste streams and its concentration and disposition in the local ground water regime. These factors are of interest from the environmental monitoring standpoint; they are also potentially of real value in evaluation of the regional ground water hydrology. This report presents the initial results of the process waste and ground water tritium-sampling program. Two-dimensional comparisons of the ground water tritium analyses with routine gross beta analyses are also presented.

SEPARATORS. C. W. Sheridan, H. R. Gwinn, and L. O. Descriptions are given of procedures, techniques, and equipment used to prepare charge materials for electromagnetic isotope separators at ORNL. Data on ion outputs during processing, charge consumption rates, and process efficiencies are given for 54 elements. (auth)

A study was made on the characteristics of radioactively contaminated air at Hanford work locations. One of the main objectives in this study is to define the size of particular air contamination in plutonium handling facilities. In addition to characterizing the particulate contamination, it is desirable to know the normal background particle size distribution. Data are summarized on general particle size distribution and radioactive particle distribution at two Hanford plutonium fabrication facilities. (auth)

ABS>Calculations of the Doppler coefficient of large, ceramicfueled fast reactors containing plutonium were made by means of the ELMOE program to provide accurate flux calculations. The temperature-dependent cross sections of P. Greebler et al., for U/sup 238/ and Pu/sup 239/ were used. Doppler coefficients of the order of 10/sup -5/ ntermediate tem k/ C were obtained, in agreement with Greebler's results. Coefficients of carbide fueled reactors are about 0.7 of those of oxide-fueled reactors at the same fuel enrichment. Effective coarse- group elastic-removal cross sections for light elements are tabulated. It appears that, with tabulations of this sort as a guide, coarse-group sets of cross sections can be constructed to give adequate accuracy in calculations of Doppler coefficients without use of ELMOE. (auth)

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concentration is not greater than four molar and the nitric acid greater than five molar. In addition, core dissolutions should be done below the boiling point, and heat transfer surface termperatures during core dissolution should be maintained below 240 deg F. Carpenter 20 is probably less satisfactory for Sulfex service because of selective weld attack. Neither Ni-o-nel, 309 SCb, or 304L is a satisfactory construction material for uninhibited Zirflex solutions. Cupric ion lowers the corrosion rate of 309 SCb to 30--40 mils per year, but is not a satisfactory inhibitor for 304L or Ni-o-nel. (auth)

A brief review of several thermionic nuclear power plants leads to the conclusion that the in-core concept is the most practical and useful system for space applications. Fundamental considerations indicate that emitter temperatures from 1500 to 1900 deg C are required for this concept, and that the high work function refractory metals are the best electrode materials for achieving the required performance and lifetime at these temperatures. The analytical and experimental technology developed for systematically defining the optimum materials and operatlng conditions is described, along with the significance of the experimental results obtained. These results have shown that the required performance can be obtained with the elementary cesium vapor diode converter. It was also shown that impurities cause pronounced effects on both performance and lifetime, and that their suppression or controlled utilization is an important aspect of the present approach. (auth)

An out-of-pile electron irradiation circulating loop was developed to study the problem of fuel element fouling in organic cooled reactors. Unlike pyrolytic loops and capsules, the irradiation loop operates at temperatures, pressures, fluid dynamics, geometry, and radiation damage which closely resemble reactor conditions. The loop is run in conjunction with the 4-kw -- 6-Mev electron linear accelerator. The thickness of the fouling film deposited in the irradiation cell is measured and the film subjected to chemical analysis. Test results showed that clean coolant did not foul; reactor coolant (Core II) with particulate matter fouled; heaviest film was found in the radiation area; and lower fouling occurred at high velocity. (auth)

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The proton magnetic resonance spectra of SiH/sub 3/PH/sub 2/, SiH/sub 3/ AsH/sub 2/, GeH/sub 3/PH/sub 2/, and GeH/sub 3/AsH/sub 2/ are describe d and interpreted. (auth)

An experimental method is described which utilizes a simple Fermi-type chopper and conventional time-of-flight techniques in conjunction with an electron linear-accelerator pulsed neutron source to study inelastic scattering of thermal neutrons from liquid para- and ortho-para-hydrogen. The overall general agreement between theory and experiment supports the concept that the molecules in liquid hydrogen behave nearly as they would in a perfect gas. For liquid ortho-para-hydrogen, however, the extra broadening of the energy distribution of scattered neutrons suggests that some effects of the liquid state may be present. Similar observations on para-hydrogen indicate that, in this liquid as well, the motion of the molecules is affected by weak intermolecular forces. (auth)

A list is presented of subject headings used by the U.S.A.E.C. Division of Technical Information for indexing literature in the field of nuclear science and technology. (C.H.)

Research and development progress is reported on chemical-metallurgical processing, fuel cycle applications of voiatility and fluidization techniques, calorimetry, reactor safety, energy conversion, determination of nuclear constants, and routine operations. (M.C.G.)

References applicable to the problems of transponting charged particles in the areas external to accelerators are presented. The 891 references cover the period 1949 to 1981, with a few references both prior and subsequent to this period included. Part I is concerned with the more general aspects of electron optics. Part II contains the references that deal more directly with applications to particle accelerators. Arrangement within each pant is by broad subject with cross references listed at the end of each section. An author index is included. (M.C.G.)

Six polymorphs of UO/sup 3/ were prepared and were identified by x-ray diffraction techniques. Differential thermal techniques were used to study the decompositions of the polymorphs to U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ and to investigate the modes of formation of the polymorphs from the hydrates of UO/sub 3/. (auth)

Reactivity lifetime calculations were made for an 800Mw(t) pebble-bed reactor on the basis of a batch-fueling cycle, a once-through equilibrium cycle, and a gradedexposure equilibrium cycle. The maximum lifetime, obtained with the graded-exposure equilibrium cycle, was 1.41 fissions per initial fissionable atom. In this case the conversion ratio was 0.62 and the neutron leakage from the core was 0.078. The same fuel composition gave 1.29 fissions per initial fissionable atom on a once-through equilibrium cycle and 0.92 fissions per initial fissionable atom on a batch cycle. (auth)

A theoretical study is made of the interaction between moving dislocations and large point defect clusters in the form of Frank sessile loops and perfect prismatic loops. Long-range interactions are shown to be negligible. The contact interaction depends on the type and orientation of the loops relative to the glide plane and Burgers vector of the gliding dislocation. It is noted that perfect prismatic loops can interact with moving dislocations in four different ways, These cases are analyzed in detail. The interaction with a Frank sessile loop depends on its size. However, even loops possibly too small to be visible by transmission electron microscopy can form strong locking points on a moving dislocation. (auth)

The relationship between nuclear reactions and nuclear decay derived by F. T. Smith is presented and illustrated by a simple example. (auth)

Major effort during the report period was expended on the preparation and characterization of samples scheduled for in-pile screening tests. Other activities were continued on installation of hot metallographic cell installation and preparation and evaluation of UO/sub 2/-PuO/sub 2/ coprecipi tation processes. Data obtained in three preparation runs are included. A steady state intermediate production run was used to study the effects of ammonia evolved during the initial stages of mixed oxide precursor conversion on ADU precipitation. To determine whether or not selfreduction occurs, charges of the precursor were thermally decomposed in N/sub 2/ using fast and slow temperature rises on similar samples. Results are included which indicate that no significant amount of self-reduction occurs under these conditions. Effort is also continuing on development of techniques for producing spherical particles by mechanical agglomeration and sintering, and by plasma torch fusion. (J.R.D.)

An unsynchronized thyratron relaxation oscillator circuit was developed, whose rate is stabilized through the use of a Schmitt discriminator to determine the thyratron firing point. Drift and jitter in the period are less than 0.1% after warmup. (auth)

The problem of current continuity and viscous drag at the boundaries in rotating-plasma experiments is discussed. A hypothetical model having a steady state with axial symmetry is emphasized; it is shown that the discharge impedance derived from this model does not agree with many observations. The Homopolar III'' experiment is described in which the flux surfaces were strongly convex and parallel to the toroidal-shaped electrodes. In this way friction at the insulators was reduced. But the structure of the discharge deviated drastically from axial symmetry near the outer surface. Several studies led to the conclusion that the flow pattern probably involved secondary flows. A detailed analysis of this structure was not possible. It was also found that the rotational speed could not be raised above a few cm/ mu sec because the insulators failed in spite of the special design of the experiment. 28 references. (auth)