This report details Technical Division activities for the week ending May 22, 1943.

This report details Technical Division activities for the week ending May 29, 1943.

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This weekly report details technical activities for the week ending May 15, 1943.

This monthly report briefly describes ongoing studies including urinary and fecal excretion of Plutonium 238 by human subjects and by rats, exploring way to facilitate the removal of Plutonium 238 from rat bone, the absorption of Plutonium 238 by barley plants, and use of inert iodine to block absorption of Iodine-131 in the rat.

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This report provides a discussion of technical activities at the Hanford Works as of May 10, 1949.

The excess reactivity available in an operating pile is absorbed in poison columns and horizontal rods. The temperature distribution of the pile is determined by the relative strengths and locations of the poison columns and the configuration of control rods used. A method for adjusting poison columns and rods to improve upon the pile`s temperature distribution is given in Document {number_sign}7-2654, ``Procedure for Improving Temperature Distribution via Rods and Columns,`` Wheeler and Menegus to Jordan, September 9, 1945. A relationship between poison moment (inhour lattice units) and temperature moments (per coat) was theoretically derived in the above document and has since been measured on several occasions on the basis of operating experience. A survey of recent operating data for the F Pile has been made by H. A. Gauper, Jr. with the intent of improving the method for obtaining the temperature and poison moments and relating changes in the two. This study was concerned with only the horizontal and vertical dipole moments. The results of Mr. Gauper`s investigation are summarized in this memorandum.

A potential source of dangerous concentrations of hydrogen cyanide exists in the plating room of the Machine Shop where open plating baths containing cyanide salts are maintained and where solid cyanide salts are stored. Also the use of hydrogen sulfide in certain steps of the waste disposal process has lead to noticeable and sometimes objectionable concentrations of this gas in the air of the "WD" Building. In view of the toxic properties of these two gases, it was desirable to set up suitable tests to determine the actual concentrations present in the air of the respective working areas.

A theorem is derived which is useful in the analysis of neutron problems in which all neutrons have the same velocity. It is applied to determine extrapolated end-points, the asymptotic amplitude from a point source, and the neutron density at the surface of a medium. Formulas for the effect of finite tampers are derived by its aid, and their accuracy is discussed.

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The excellent performance of British ''red dot'' crystals is explained as due to the knife edge contact against a polished surface. High frequency rectification depends critically on the capacity of the rectifying boundary layer of the crystal. C. For high conversion efficiency, the product of this capacity and of the ''forward'' (bulk) resistance R{sub b} of the crystal must be small. For a knife edge, this product depends primarily on the breadth of the knife edge and very little upon its length. The contact can therefore have a rather large area which prevents burn-out. For a wavelength of 10 cm. the computations show that the breadth of the knife edge should be less than about 10{sup -3} cm. For a point contact the radius must be less than 1.5 x 10{sup -3} cm. and the resulting small area is conductive to burn-out. The effect of ''tapping'' is probably to reduce the area of contact.

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A program was initiated to determine the thermal rupture characteristics of KS graphite under steady-state operating conditions simulating the thermal conditions of an uninhibited rocket reactor. The maximum thermal stress calculated using room-temperature properties was 3090 psi. The maximum net specific power obtained was 5.2 Btu/cu in.-sec. (B.O.G.)

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In order to evaluate the feasibility of segmental discharge equipment, it was necessary to determine the time required for segmental discharge during the current operating procedures. This memorandum details this time study.

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The effects of ionizing radiation on the lung, specifically the bronchial tubes, were discussed relative to the incidence of lung cancer in radium miners. The energy transferred to the epithelium by inhaled radon was calculated, and the steps in the process leading to the initiation of cancer were described. (ACR)