The direct reading height gauge is a new and fast operating instrument designed primarily for checking hole patterns, but it can also be used for a number of other purposes as well. This report gives a brief review of what the gauge is, what it will do, and how it is operated. Speed and the elimination of most of the sources of error are its chief attributes.

This note is concerned with the numerical integration of the integrals of the form anti l*SUB infinity/*SUP infinity/ f(x) *phi/(x) dx is "smooth."

A series of measurements was performed to investigate the gamma ray spectra, in the region from about 100 kev to about 3 Mev, resulting from the capture of thermal neutrons in a number of elements. The purpose of the experiment was to supplement the high energy capture gamma ray data in order to remove some of the ambiguities from the proposed energy level schemes and to obtain information for the Shielding Group of Brookhaven National Laboratory on elements normally found in reactors.

Engineering notes on limiting bore diameter, angular divergence in a linear accelerator.

Progress on projects on experimental physics, theoretical physics, MTA Target-Physics Program, accelerator construction and operation, chemistry, biology and medicine, plant and equipment.

Corrosion-stability tests have been made in static autoclaves at 500 and 600F on solutions of compounds having high neutron cross sections to evaluate their usefulness for shutdown purposes. The only compound tested which appeared to be completely stable in 600F water was boric acid. Limited corrosion data did not show it to cause excessive corrosion of zirconium or stainless steel.

The development of methods which were successful in producing zirconium Hanford type process tubing by roll forming and inert are welding (He) flat strip to which appropriate rails had ben previously attached by resistance welding is described in this report. Grade 2 drip arc melted crystal bar material was used.

Report describing the research and development activities related to nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry and basic chemistry conducted by the Argonne National Laboratory Chemistry Division, Section C-1.

Various properties of BeH/sub 2/ are predicted, based on the properties of neighboring hydrides. Included are predictions of the stability of the Be-H bond, the stability of an ionic lattice for BeH/sub 2/, polymeric structure, and density.

The annealing or heat treatment of uranium in any medium other than a good vacuum or purified helium atmosphere, will lower the room temperature properties of ultimate strength, hardness and elongation. In general, the elongation of vacuum annealed uranium exceeds considerably the elongation of air or salt annealed uranium. Any annealing medium which permits contact of the uranium metal with atmospheric gases tends to produce low elongation and ductility and a lowering of the ultimate strength. The above is true for uranium in any solid form, whether it is rolled sheet, cast bars or plates, rolled rod, or extruded shapes. Annealing in the molten salt bath (65% potassium carbonate and 35% lithium carbonate), which is used by Los Alamos and other laboratories concerned with the fabrication of uranium, produces the lowest elongation or ductility and ultimate strength when compared to similar properties of metal annealed in the other media examined. Mass spectrometer analyses of the dissolved gases present in high ductility and low ductility uranium indicate that dissolved hydrogen is probably the chief cause of low physical properties.

A new method for the determination of O/sub 2/ in metals is described. The sample is dropped into molten Pt in a graphite crucible. The oxide in the sample reacts with C to form CO, which is swept out by a stream of argon at atmospheric pressure. The CO is oxidized to CO/sub 2/, which is condensed in a capillary trap and measured with a capillary manometer. The apparatus is sensitive to 0.3 mu g of O/sub 2/, and routine 50-mg Pu samples give a standard deviation of 7 ppm or 0.35 mu g. Pu samples with added O/sub 2/ gave a standard deviation of 1.5 mu g or 2% of the total oxygen, with no significant bias. The apparatus is simple and rugged permitting replacement of parts without glassblowing. The speed is superior to vacuum fusion methods, most samples requiring only twelve minutes for analysis.

Several improvements have been made in the gamma scintillation counter (GSC). The Model V gamma scintillation counter uses a canned thallium activated sodium iodide crystal as a detector. Although the electronic components remain unchanged, a modification of the sample support has been made to improve reproducibility of geometry. To assure comparable results between various counters, they must be operated at the same energy threshold and counting yield. Methods have been developed to assure operation at a preferred energy threshold of 0.1 Mev and an arbitrarily fixed counting yield of 3.36% for Cs-Ba-137. Partial pulse height discrimination against U 237 is also accomplished.

In connection with the study of aqueous-tributyIphosphate (TBP) systems, the study of the interactions of various diluents with the TBP has been extended. The diluents used were mineral oil, Amsco 125-90W, dodecane, n-hexane, cyclohexane, benzene, n-octyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and pentachloroethane. The solubility of TBP in water from solutions of these diluents and the solubility of water in the organic phase was determined. For the paraffin hydrocarbons as diluents the solubility of TBP in water was found to increase with increasing molal volume of the diluent. No evidence for the formation of TBP-water complex of simple mole ration was found.

A continuous gamma-monitoring instrument capable of measuring the activity of the product of the Uranium Recovery plant has been developed and applied under process conditions. It has a detection limit of 15% and a normal range of up 1000% of the activity of natural uranium. Activity measurements made with this instrument have shown good correlation with laboratory determinations and are contributing to improved control of the solvent extraction process.

The approaches to the solution of the problem of removing or nullifying the effect of the hydrolysis of uranyl ion on acid titrations were: 1) use of a complexing agent and titration technique suitable for micro samples; 2) addition of a reagent that reacts with uranium to release 1 or 2 equivalents of acid per mole of uranium present (this permits correcting the titration value for the acid contributed by the uranium, or conversely permits an alkimetric titration of uranium); 3) separation of the uranium and acid with subsequent titration of the acid; and 4) direct titration of the sample with base. All these approaches yielded at least one method suitable for titrating acid in micro samples of uranium nitrate solutions.

Foils of plutonium 239 and uranium 235 have been mounted back to back in a dual ionization fission chamber in the diffracted beam of the Hanford neutron crystal spectrometer. A quantity proportional to the ration of fission cross sections of Pu239 to U235 has been measured as a function of neutron energy from 0.020 to 1.0 electron volts. The results of this investigation are presented graphically in the text.

From introduction: "The work described in this report was carried out as part of the feasibility study (ORNL-117) of a supercritical water reactor (SCWR) for use in nuclear propulsion of aircraft. The object of this work was to study the dynamic behavior of a particular design of supercritical water reactor. Numerical results are presented in Appendix I."

Abstract: "A possible method of cooling a liquid-fuel reactor is by spraying liquid metal through the liquid fuel, and then circulating the liquid metal through a heat exchanger. To evaluate the effectiveness of this cooling method, a few simple experiments were made with mercury sprayed through water. On the basis of the results, it was concluded that this method was intrinsically a low-power-density method, which could not find application except where a low fissionable-material inventory was the dominating requirement in a low-power reactor. Even there, it is thought that a boiling homogeneous reactor might be superior. The results are reported, in spite of their probably lack of value in the reactor program, simply to make the record complete."

Gamma scintillation monitor Model 3 is designed to continuously monitor and record the gamma activity of a process solution.

Report issued by the Brookhaven National Laboratory discussing non-overload amplifiers, including features, performance, and improvements of amplifiers. This report includes illustrations, and photographs, as well as errata at the end of the report.

Report presenting results of a flight investigation using a jet-powered bomber airplane to determine the vertical tail loads. Strain-gage measurements were made of the fin and rudder loads in abrupt rudder kicks and in gradual sideslip maneuvers.

From Summary: "A ceramic consisting nominally of 75 percent molybdenum disilicide and 25 percent alumium oxide was investigated to determine its thermal shock characteristics and high-temperature strength properties. In a rim-quench thermal shock evaluation, the material was found to be superior to pure molybdenum disilicide. In a simulated altitude blow-out test, the material withstood an average of 2.5 cycles when quenched from 1800 degrees Fahrenheit."

Report presenting a flight investigation to determine horizontal-tail loads at transonic speeds of the Bell X-1. The tests were made through the transonic region and at high lift coefficients. Results regarding the time histories, tail load data, aerodynamic-center positions, and potential load discrepancy explanations are presented.

Report presenting zero-lift drag data for a series of fin-stabilized bodies differing only in afterbody shape. Three series of afterbodies with varying ratios of base radium to maximum radius were combined with a fineness-ratio-7.13 parabolic nose. Results regarding the total drag, drag breakdown, comparison of experimental and theoretical afterbody pressure drag, and afterbody design criteria are provided.