All of the available evidence leads to the view that the 5f electron shell is being filled in the heaviest elements giving rise to a transition series which begins with actinium in the same sense that the rare earth or 'lanthanide' series begins with lanthanum. Such an 'actinide' series is suggested on the basis of evidence in the following lines: (1) chemical properties, (2) absorption spectra in aqueous solution and crystals, (3) crystallographic structure data, (4) magnetic susceptibility data and (5) spectroscopic data. The salient point is that the characteristic oxidation state (i.e., the oxidation state exhibited by the member containing seven 5f and presumably also by the member containing fourteen 5f electrons, curium and element 103) is the III state, and the group is placed in the periodic table on this basis. The data also make it possible to give a suggested table of electronic configurations of the ground state of the gaseous atom for each of the elements from actinium to curium inclusive.

The synthesis of sucrose from C{sup 14}0{sub 22} by green algae has been investigated and the intermediates separated by the method of paper chromatography. It is shown that sucrose is the first free sugar appearing during photosynthesis. It is apparently formed by condensation of the glucose-I-phosphate and a fructose phosphate. A series of radioautographs of paper chromatograms of extracts from plants which have photosynthesized for different periods of time has been prepared. The results indicate that 2-phosphoglyceric acid is the first product synthesized from C0{sub 2} during photosynthesis.

This progress report discusses activities at P Division for the month of March, 1949. All piles operated at 275 megawatts throughout the month except for the outages listed under Area Activities in this report. The average time operating efficiency''was 91.4%. A total of 47 tons of metal was discharged from the piles during the month. During the month, 16.6 tons of alpha-rolled, triple-dipped metal were discharged without difficulty at a nominal concentration of 320 megawatts day (MWD) per ton. Inspection of selected tubes of this material indicated that exposures at this level are satisfactory. In view of these results the programs of stepwise increases in concentration will be continued, with the next test tonnages being discharged at a nominal concentration of 360 MWD per ton. The nominal monthly production rate of acceptable canned pieces was reduced from 90 tons to 60 tons on March 28. This curtailment of production was possible in view of the favorable inventory of slugs available for charging DR and H piles.

On July 14, 1949, and office memorandum was written about operations of a reprocessing building on the Hanford Site being suspended due to the mishandling of some plutonium powder. The letter describes the process of decontamination of the building surfaces, and the ventilation of the rooms of that building. It also describes the problem with the ventilation fans due to increased temperature and pressures.

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Due to a forecasted increase in pile area production as well as a possible decrease in batch size of the separations process, an increase in the capacities of the separations plants is indicated. It is the purpose of this report to review this relationship in the light of existing data and to determine how this additional capacity can best be attained through the use of either the proposed semiparallel or complete parallel methods of operation. Emphasis will necessarily be given to consideration of cost, timing, use of minimum buildings and equipment, and the obtaining of optimum production time cycles.

It was agreed during a meeting on July 10, 1945, investigation should be made to determine how fast and in what fashion the temperature of the effluent water from the 100 Areas is dissipated in the Columbia River. A preliminary report on these investigation was issued March 1, 1946: it discussed the testing techniques developed and the results of a survey made at the 100-B Area. Following a review of the data and tentative conclusions resented therein, it was agreed to extend the survey using similar technique: to the D and F Areas, and to determine if the tentative conclusions were substantiated.

This report describes a test performed on April 2, 1947 to determine the reactivity power coefficients and the graphite relaxation period of the F Pile in accordance with the procedure described by this Production Test.

This barely legible document contains information on slug testing results and autoclave performance. Reactor physics, corrosion, chemistry and instrument development are also discussed.

It was desired to investigate the precipitation of UO{sub 4} in acid solution, in order to determine the suitability of this reaction for use in the purification of uranium. A series of tests was performed to establish the conditions for precipitation of UO{sub 4}. It was found that uranium could be completely precipitated from pure uranyl sulfate solution at a pH of 2.5 to 3.5, with only silght excess of H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. The presence of sodium sulfate interferred with complete precipitation. It was established that vanadium was preferentially oxidized, when present.

This trip was to provide an answer to these questions: Are Hanford meteorological instrumentation, methods, and records adequate? Do they conform to generally recognized practice? Are they effectively utilized? What is the percentage frequency of wind classified according to conditions normal, least favorable and most favorable for dilution? What is the habitability of the Wahluke Slope north and northeast of the Columbia River, considering stack gases, various stack heights, any pertinent meteorological features? What is the habitability if the only contaminating sources are the piles? In preparation for and in the event of a major catastrophe with attendant relief and evacuation operations, which additional observation should be taken: What weather data should be assembled from the general vicinity of Hanford: What sampling program should take place immediately after the event. To these may be added a question raised by Dr. Parker in connection with the high level of contamination at the ground in the vicinity of the separations. areas.

The total power output of a unit may be represented by the power output of the most productive tube or tubes multiplied by a quantity designated as the ``number of effective tubes.`` The number of effective tubes observed at 105-D under two different arrangements of poisoned columns has been compared with values of this quantity calculated from theory. It was found that in each case the observed number of effective tubes was about 5% less than the ideal number obtainable by an optimum arrangement of the poison. In the case in which two poisoned columns in the pile took up 110 ih it was found that the loss consisted of 2% due to the necessary presence of a control rod in the pile and 3% due to the fact that the actual arrangement of the poison was not the optimum one. In the case in which a single, off center, poison column took up 60 ih, it was found that very little of the loss was due to the presence of the control rod and almost all of it was due to the eccentric position of the P-column. As a further result of this study, it was found that, apart …

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This paper contains a description of the apparatus and theories of the methods successfully used for determining the fast decay periods of near-critical assemblies. The methods described are: (1) the modulation method and (2) the delayed coincidence or Rossi method

The production of U{sup 232} by the sum of {alpha},4n and {alpha},p 3n reactions on thorium has been studied. The cross section at an average energy of 37.5 Mev was 0.013 barns and the threshold for the reaction was about 30 Mev.

The quartz-fiber microbalances used in the Mound Laboratory operations are of the conventional Kirk-Craig type, but are housed in vacuum-tight cases which permit foil weighing by remote control.

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Report is made of chemical procedures for determination of plutonium in human urine. The procedures are provided in outline form and statistical methods are provided for interpretation of the results.

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