From summary: The procedure has been to search for areas in which nonpedogenic calcrete or gypcrete may have developed and where additional study or exploration might be justified.

Calcrete, dolocrete, and gypcrete carnotite are abundant in western Australia and Namib Desert, although only a few are of ore grade. The geology of these deposits are described. A genetic classification of calcretes emphasizing uranium favorability was developed, based on the distinction between pedogenic and nonpedogenic processes. Similarities between western Australia and South West Africa give support for the conclusions that lateral transport of U in groundwater is essential to ore deposition and that bedrock barriers or constrictions which narrow the channel of subsurface flow or force the water close to the land surface, greatly favor the formation of uraniferous calcretes. Criteria for uranium favorability deduced from the Australian and South West African studies were applied in a preliminary way to the southern Basin and Range Province of U.S. The procedure is to search for areas in which nonpedogenic calcrete or gypcrete may have developed. A caliche distribution map was compiled from soil survey and field data. Many areas were visited and some of the more interesting are described briefly, including parts of Clark County, Nevada, with occurrences of carnotite in calcrete. (DLC)

A high degree of crystallinity has been achieved in ingots cast. Since most of the growth took place near the solidification temperature, the top portion of the ingot was solidified by freezing from the surface. The thickness of this layer was reduced with the control of thermal flow characteristics in the furnace. The crucibles used in this study have a nonuniform bottom which is not conducive to proper heat transfer during solidification. In an effort to achieve high packing density of solar cells in the module with maximum material utilization, an attempt was made to cast a square cross-section ingot. Even though some minor cracking occurred in the first ingot, it appears feasible to cast square cross-section ingots by the Heat Exchanger Method. Higher feed forces results in higher cutting rates. However, this is accompanied by wire wander and increased surface damage depth. It has been established that the life of an impregnated blade can be prolonged by plating it after impregnation.

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Mixtures of H/sub 2/--T/sub 2/ or D/sub 2/--T/sub 2/ will exchange to produce HT or DT due to catalysis by the tritium ..beta.. particle. The kinetics of the reaction D/sub 2/ + T/sub 2/ = 2DT may play an important role in designing liquid or solid targets of D/sub 2/--DT--T/sub 2/ for implosion fusion, and distillation schemes for tritium cleanup systems in fusion reactors. Accordingly, we have critically reviewed the literature for information on the kinetics and mechanism of radiation-induced self-exchange reactions among the hydrogens. We found data for the reaction H/sub 2/ + T/sub 2/ = 2HT in the gas phase and developed a scheme based on these data to predict the halftime to equilibrium for any gaseous H/sub 2/ + T/sub 2/ mixture at ambient temperature with an accuracy of +-10 percent. The overall order of the H/sub 2/ + T/sub 2/ = 2HT reaction is 1.6 based on an initial rate treatment of the data. The most probable mechanism for radiation-induced self-exchange reaction is an ion-molecule chain mechanism.

Objectives of the Geologic Review Group are to study the long-term stability of rock units for commercial radioactive waste disposal, and to review all plans of the National Wastes Terminal Storage program. At this meeting in New Orleans, the Gulf coast Salt dome project and the impending reorganization of the office of Waste Isolation are discussed. (DLC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Source of payment of a judgement against Calhoun county Drainage District No:2.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Studies of atmospheric aerosols have demonstrated that much of the /sup 55/Fe associated with the aerosol input to the oceans is present as either an amorphous or hydrous iron oxide or as very small particulate species attached to the surfaces of the large aerosol particles. By comparison, nearly all of the stable iron is bound in the mineral phase of aerosol particles. This difference in the chemical and physical forms of the radioactive and stable iron isotopes results in the /sup 55/Fe being more biologically available than is the stable iron. This difference in availability is responsible for the transfer of a much higher specific activity /sup 55/Fe to certain ocean organisms and man relative to the specific activity of the total aerosol or of sea water. This differential biological uptake of the radioactive element and its stable element counterpart points out that natural levels of stable elements in the marine environment may not effectively dilute radioelements or other stable elements of anthropogenic sources. The effectiveness of dilution by natural sources depends on the chemical and physical forms of the materials in both the source terms and the receiving environments. The large difference in specific activities of /sup 55/Fe in …

A technique is described for the noncontact testing of materials using laser deposition to generate a stress pulse and interferometry to record the transient surface displacement. The dilatational wave speed can be measured and, in the particular case of rod or plate specimens, sufficient information can be obtained to evaluate the two elastic constants of an isotropic material. Several applications illustrating the advantages of the approach are summarized.

The setting up, calibration operation, characteristics, and problems of the precision long counter for neutron intensity measurements are discussed. (WHK)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Disposition of fines levied for failure to appear in court for an alleged violation of a game, fish, or park law.

Laboratory equipment is being assembled for the investigation of unusual particulate and gaseous radioactive material in the incinerator offgas when commercial wastes are incinerated. This equipment will constitute a bench-scale incinerator system with monitoring equipment to effect the investigation. A literature search was made to determine the current technology used in removing the expected effluents from gas streams. A series of controlled-feed incinerator runs was performed to determine the mass balance of chloride in the Cyclone incinerator system. Approximately 74% of the chloride present in the feed material was found to be in the scrubber solution, 8% in the flue gas, and the remaining chloride was distributed in the ash and retained in the system. A conceptual design was prepared and modifications were begun on a glove box which is to be used for the demonstration phase of incinerator ash immobilization. Concrete and cold-pressed pellets are being studied and compared for ash immobilization.

An experimental program to evaluate candidate metals for use in the fabrication of canisters for long-term storage of vitrified radioactive wastes is described. The long-term compatibility of the candidate metal both with the contained vitrified radioactive waste and with the external environments expected in possible final storage locations will be determined. These tests involve heating combinations of waste forms and canister metals in intimate contact for up to 50,000 hr to accelerate any reactions that occur.

This paper describes an experimental program to evaluate candidate metals for use in the fabrication of canisters for long-term storage of vitrified radioactive wastes.

Theoretically, the geochemical barrier can provide a major line of defense in protecting the biosphere from the hazards of nuclear waste. The most likely processes involved are easily identified. Preliminary investigations using computer modeling techniques suggest that retardation is an effective control on radionuclide concentrations. Ion exchange reactions slow radionuclide migration and allow more time for radioactive decay and dispersion. For some radionuclides, solubility alone may limit concentrations to less than the maximum permissible now considered acceptable by the Federal Government. The effectiveness of the geochemical barrier is ultimately related to the repository site characteristics. Theory alone tells us that geochemical controls will be most efficient in an environment that provides for maximum ion exchange and the precipitation of insoluble compounds. In site selection, consideration should be given to rock barriers with high ion exchange capacity that might also act as semi-permeable membranes. Also important in evaluating the site's potential for effective geochemical controls are the oxidation potentials, pH and salinity of the groundwater.

This report examines three basic solutions to satisfy the Navy's requirement.

The rotation and internal excitation limits of stability of superheavy compound nuclei (formed, for example, by heavy-ion collisions) are studied. The work is based on a macroscopic-microscopic description of the deformation of a nucleus. The two-center shell model for fission is generalized to include rotation (microscopic description) and internal excitations (statistical description). The physical basis for this study is described and the calculated results of the stability of fission barriers of superheavy elements are presented.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of Harris County to provide certain potable water facilities.

The program scope is to develop, fabricate, install, and monitor the operation of prototype solar heating and cooling systems. Application studies have been completed for three application categories: single-family residential, multi-family residential, and commercial. The program currently consists of development of heating and cooling euipment for single-family residential and commercial applications and eight operational test sites (four heating and four heating and cooling). Four are single-family residences and four are commercial buildings.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Board of Examiners of Psychologists may consider postdoctoral courses in deterring whether an applicant has met the educational requirements for licensing.

A first-order system analysis was used to evaluate various characteristics of /sup 233/U-producing hybrids. A cost model was also developed for the hybrid.

The analysis performed by Todd Shipyards concerning the ability of the LOFT CRDMs to withstand a dry scram is presented. A ''dry scram'' could result in the CRDM components yielding; however, it would probably not render the CRDMs inoperable. It also concluded that a dry scram is highly unlikely based on a typical LOFT depressurization curve and the temperature of the fluid in the upper pressure housing. At the time of scram, the fluid in the upper pressure housing will not flash to steam owing to the pressure-temperature relationship existing during the scram cycle.

A detailed dynamic analysis of the LOFT reactor core support structures was performed to determine the ability of the flow skirt/core filler and hold-down springs to withstand Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) plus Safe Shutdown Earthquake (SSE) loadings. A double-ended offset shear occurring in 15 msec (5 msec break time + msec for offset to occur) in the intact loop at the reactor vessel nozzle provided the basis for LOCA loads. The flow skirt/core filler and lower core support structure separate from the core barrel approximately 0.068 in. as a result of the hot leg LOCA. This small displacement and the resulting impact loads produce stresses in the springs, core barrel, flow skirt/core filler, and shear pins within allowables as specified in Section III of the ASME Code for faulted conditions.