The object of the work performed under this contract was to investigate the possibility of gas plating copper base metal with (a) pure chromium metal from chromium hexacarbonyl vapor; (b) chromium-nickel plating from a mixture of chromium hexacarbonyl and nickel tetracarbonyl. The object of the work performed during the final month was to confirm the fact that the gas plating of chromium metal and chromium-nickel laminates free from nitrides, oxides and carbides was practical.

A resin-in-pulp process was developed using a series of fixed-screen or Winchester cells. Various laboratory and pilot plant models were constructed and tested under simulated plant conditions. The fixed-screen device proved very effective in the recovery of uranium and/or vanadium by a continuous, resin-in-pulp process.

Leaching investigations on low grade Belgian Congo uranium ores and recovery of uranium from acid leach solutions by uranous phosphate precipitation, uranyl phosphate precipitation and by sodium carbonate retreatment of alkali precipitates are described.

"Test results indicated that graphite is not suitable for seal face material. A program to evaluate various materials and seal face geometries was initiated. A seal run using nucerite-bearium combination was carried on for six hours."

The work described in this technical report was undertaken as part of a larger program dealing with a systematic investigation of changes in the physical prosperities of artificial graphite due to neutron bombardment. Very pronounced among those changes is the increase in the elastic modulus. Since there is a general relationship between the elastic modulus of a given substance and its specific heat, it was expected that corresponding changes will occur in the specific heat. In conclusion, the experiments determined that it appears that the low temperature specific heat measurements of strongly bombarded samples will be helpful for the understanding of the nature and the mechanism of the changes produced by neutron bombardment and annealing.

Introduction. It has been known for a long time that thorium is precipitated by oxalic acid in acid solutions, but a survey of the literature showed no study of the limits of the acidity and oxalic acid excess which yield quantitative results. V. I. Spitzin reports on the solubility of thorium oxalate in varying concentrations of several acids, but the effect of an excess oxalic acid is not included. Since solutions are sometimes presented for analysis that contain more than the recommended two per cent mineral acid, it would be advantageous to be able to quantitatively remove the thorium without otherwise altering the solutions. This was especially of interest in solutions containing bismuth, since it was hoped that some amounts of thorium could be precipitated in nitric acid solutions containing large quantities of bismuth. In removing the bismuth, first by a bismuth oxychloride precipitation, thee is every opportunity for carrying of the thorium.

Introduction. the conventional procedures of analysis for uranium and manganese can be employed in the analysis of alloys of these metals. The alloys are reacted with perchloric acid and hydrogen peroxide, fumed to remove any chloride ions, diluted to volume and aliquots analyzed by redoximetry.

Abstract. The separation of uranyl nitrate from aqueous solutions of 0.635 M thorium nitrate, 3 M nitric acid and 3 M calcium nitrate by extraction with organic solvents has been investigated. Solvents which gave good separations were 2-tthyl hexyl acetate, ethyl benzoate, n-butyl either and beta-beta- dichloroethyl ether. In general, higher esters, ethers and alcohols are better for separating uranium from thorium that the lower homologues. Several solvents were tested at lower nitric acid concentrations. Dibutyl cellosolve gave a very good separation when the solution was 0.1 M nitric acid. Of the solvent mixtures studied that of equal parts of n-butyl ether and dibutyl cellosolve gave a good separation.

Introduction: "Because of the importance of the value of the transport mean free path of thermal neutrons in deuterium oxide, Kash and Woods proposed to redetermine this value in deuterium oxide (99.4 atom-percent deuterium, by an extrapolation method. Kash and Woods thought that the low value of the transport mean free path might be a source of error. This paper relates studies of procedures by which (1) boron material would be dissolved in high content deuterium oxide without adding foreign atoms, particularly hydrogen atoms which might adversely affect the test, (2) the boron content of the deuterium oxide solvent may be determined, (3) ion exchangers may be deuterized and de-deuterized, and (4) ion exchange may remove specific ions from solution."

The trip into the Henry Mountains Area used to examine the Reo Hunt's deposit s of uranium and vanadium.

Discussing an examination made of uranium deposits on the southwest rim of the Lukachukai Mountains, in Northeast Arizona

As there is no accurate measurements of the energy distribution of neutrons emerging from large uranium blocks, it becomes of importance to see how much information of this kind can be derived from the slowing down distribution of the neutrons in a water tank.

Technical report. From Abstract : "Reaction of NbBr5 and niobium metal in a sealed tube under a temperature gradient from 410° to 350° gave NbBr4 in good yields. However, an increase in the higher temperature from 410° to 450° was sufficient to eliminate NbBr4 as a product and cause deposition of a lower bromide."

Technical report. From Abstract : "The necessary conditions for preparation of TaBr4 and TaI4 by reduction of the pentahalides with tantalum or aluminum metal in a sealed tube under a controlled temperature gradient have been demonstrated."

Secondary charge effects from a 10 kilovolt proton beam and their effect upon beam current measurement are investigated. A collector is designed for beam current metering of a 60 kilovolt proton beam by means of charge measurement and energy measurement.

From abstract: "Using the method of induced radioactivity, the capture cross section of Pb[^]208 for C neutrons is found to be .00045 ± .00015 x 10[^]-24 cm[^]2. This is definitely lower than the value of .001 x 10[^]-24 reported by Maurer and Ramm."

From abstract: "Resistivities of solid solution alloys in the systems Gd-Lu, Tb-Lu, Gd-Er, and Y-Lu were measured from 4.2-320°K to determine the behavior of the resistivity in alloy systems with magnetic phenomena arising from localized magnetic moments. A large contribution to the residual resistivity is caused by the random distribution of these localized moments through the lattice. An analysis of the lattice resistivity of the metals shows large variations across the heavy rare-earth series which are possibly correlated with the change of c/a ratio of the metals and the attendent changes in the Fermi surface geometry."

From introduction: "The concluding remarks of the report on the electron diffraction study of UF6 suggest two alternate explanations for the apparent discrepancy between the structure proposed for this compound as deduced from X-ray diffraction work on single crystals and from the electron diffraction investigation of the vapor. The second explanation is based on the premise that the difference may be due to essentially unlike methods of treating the diffraction data. In this report we shall analyze X-ray powder photographs following a scheme parallel to that used in the analysis of the electron diffraction data, to check whether this particular explanation is tenable."

Abstract: An analysis of SM-1 Core II and SM-1A Core I zero power experiments was made by comparing these cores to each other and to AM-1 Core I on the basis of critical bank positions, bank calibrations and available chemical analyses of the fuel plate compositions. The effects of replacing boron absorbers by europium absorbers upon rod worth and stuck rod conditions were studied. Comparisons of measured and calculated power distributions were made. It was concluded that both SM-1 Core II and SM-1A Core I contain nearly identical B-10 loading of 17.79 grams, compared to the best estimate of 15.75 grams for SM-1 Core I. The available data indicates that all three cores possess similar nuclear characteristics.

This report provides an overview of the creation of the Liquid Metal Fuel Reactor Experiment program. It furthers the work by constructing a single loop to test all the components required for the 16 loop reactor. This utility loop was also constructed to provide a facility for testing various components such as valves and flow meters.

Quarterly progress report discussing activities related to the Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor (VBWR) and related facilities

This quarterly progress report details ongoing work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project. Topics of discussion include reactor theory and design, shielding research, materials research, appendixes with information on ongoing analytical chemical studies.

From abstract: "This report describes the decontamination of Oak Ridge National Laboratory Purex Pilot Plant facilities and presents an appraisal of the decontaminating techniques and reagents which were employed."

This report discusses the alternating gradient synchrotron at Brookhaven National Laboratory and provides a preliminary discussion on experiences to date and experiments in progress.