Exploration of various types of power plant cycles for nuclear propelled aircraft has been continued during this quarter. The principal current objective of the project is the development of information which will make an intelligent choice of the basic power plant cycle possible. It is still hoped that this choice can be made late in 1950. The survey studies which have been under way for several months continued during the quarter. These consist of analyses and rough preliminary layouts for various types of aircraft, using each of the several basic cycles which have been seriously considered for each of the three phases of development. Although it is still extremely premature to discuss the relative merits of the various cycles, the information so for developed discloses some cycle differences which may, if confirmed by additional work, be significant. In this respect, there have been no recent major changes in the comparative standings of the cycles.

A study of the effect of feed and ether acidity on the extraction of vanadium and molybdenum from process solutions by ethyl ether is described. Results of batch and continuous extraction tests on the extraction of uranium from process slurries by tributyl phosphate-Gulfspray naphtha are presented, including studies of the effects of feed and scrub acidities on the concurrent extraction of molybdenum. The effect of temperature on the stripping of uranium from tributyl phosphate was studied briefly. Results from fractional precipitation of MgX from dilute sulfuric acid solutions indicate that, in the presence of sufficient iron, phosphate is precipitated as ferric phosphate, and not as uranyl pho sphate. (auth)

This volume is a quarterly progress report for the University of Chicago Toxicology Laboratory. Thirteen individual reports are contain herein and each has been separately indexed and abstracted for the database.

This quarterly progress report gives an overview of the University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project for April 1, 1950 thru June 30, 1950. Sections included are entitled (1) Biological Effects of External Radiation (X-rays and gamma rays), (2) Biological Effects of External Radiation (Infra-red and ultraviolet), (3) Biological effects of radioactive materials (polonium, radon, thoron, and miscellaneous project materials), (4) Uranium, (5) Beryllium, (7) thorium, (8) fluoride, (9) zirconium, (10) special materials, (11) Isotopes, (12) Outside services, (12) Project health, (13) Health physics, (14) Special Clinical Service, and (15) Instrumentation (Spectroscopy, electron microscopy, x-ray and nuclear radiation detectors, x-ray diffraction, and electronics).

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This is a progress report of the production reactors on the Hanford Reservation for the month of November 1950. This report takes each division (e.g. manufacturing, medical, accounting, occupational safety, security, reactor operations, etc.) of the site and summarizes its accomplishments and employee relations for that month.

Spectrographic analyses of plutonium metal are discussed.

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This document provides a discussion of the design features for the P-10X Project needed in Building 109-B.

This report, compiled by Mr. W. R. Lewis of the Pile Technology Division, is a revision of Document HW-15516 (January 5, 1950) in consideration of new knowledge obtained during the past year. The document discusses the technical factors involved in attaining higher power levels in the various Hanford Piles. The purpose of this presentation is to summarize the present operating limitations and the possibilities of increased production rates. The limitations discussed are: A. Reactivity and flattening; B. Aluminum thimbles; C. Graphite temperature considerations; D. Boiling or vapor binding considerations; E. Tube and slug jacket corrosion; F. Effluent water activity; G. Distortion of the biological shields; H. Radiation considerations; and I. Pile control system capacity.

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This report discusses the processing of 55 MWD per ton metal, at the Hanford Works` T-Plant in December, 1950.

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At the request of the A.E.C., experiments were conducted on the continuous addition of liquid UNH to a bed of powdered UO{sub 3} in a gas heated pot in the Pot Room of Plant 6 to gather thermal data regarding the continuous decomposition of UNH and to make observations of the physical behavior of such a system. The thermal data indicate that the size and the energy requirements of the equipment required per pound of UO{sub 3} produced would be considerably smaller than for the present batch-wise process. The products of the reactions through all the successive stages were more dense than the products of the present process. The metal yields in the reduction stage were 98.5%, 97.6% and 97.8%. The yield of 98.5% in the one reactor indicates that this process will produce UF{sub 4} capable of producing as high yields as any yet made. The lower yields in the other two cases fall within the present control limits for yield. The determination of the physical and chemical properties has not yet been completed and will be reported shortly in a subsequent paper.

Investigation of the physical and chemical properties of polonium important to its behavior and for the improvement of the quantity and quality produced is being continued. A sample of polonium is approximatelyf 1 x 10{sup 9} disintegrations per minute was counted in a Logac for 250 days in order to determine the half life. A statistical treatment of the results gave a half life of 138.3562 {+-} 0.446 days. Combined with previous calorimetric determinations a new grand mean of 138.3975 {+-} 0.0091 days resulted. The wavelengths of 138 lines appearing in the spark spectrum between 3050A and 3463A (Region 4) have been tentatively assigned to polonium and have a probable error of less than 0.02A. Thirty six lines in Region 6 (4225A to 5675A) tentatively assigned to polonium have a probable error of less than D D6A. A measurement of the resistivity of polonium has given a value of about 95 microohm centimeters, and although the Hall voltage could not be measured with much precision, it was possible to set a maximum value of 0.03 millivolt. These values indicate the polonium is a metallic conductor rather than a semiconductor. A rugged but compact gauge made of stainless steel with a …

Quarterly progress report of the unclassified sections at Brookhaven National Laboratory providing updates about research and findings.

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Plutonium has been chemically separated from seven different ores and the ratios of plutonium to uranium determined. This ratio was found to be fairly constant in pitchblende and monazite ores, in which the uranium content varied from 50% t o 0.24%, and substantially less in carnotite and fergusonite.

A series of experiments on exposure of man and rats to tritium gas (HT) or tritiated water (HTO) are reported. In one human experiment 3 millicuries of HTO was administered in 200 milliliters of water by ingestion. Absorption into the blood stream was linear with time and complete in about 45 minutes. Body water turnover was measured over a period of six days by weighing all food and fluid intake and all excretory output. For four days water turnover was kept near normal (2.7 liters per day). During the last two days water turnover was increased to 12.8 liters per day. Tritium excretion rates was determined on eight other human subjects in which water turnover in which measured less precisely. The biological half-life of HTO in nine human subjects varied from 9 to 14 days on ad libitum and was reduced to 2 1/2 days in one subject on high water intake. The tritium activity in sweat, expired water vapor, septum and urine was found to be essentially the same as that in water from the blood. Rats were continually exposed to various concentrations of tritium in inspired air (0.000001 to 0.03 microcuries per ml) for periods up to 145 …