The following progress report was compiled by the research and development division of the zirconium pilot plant. This report discusses two iodination and deposition runs that were completed as of August 20, 1951, as well as the third iodination run that uses a vaporizer condenser that condenses approximately 40 pounds of zirconium iodide.

This report is submitted to the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission as a final summary safeguards and hazards evaluation of a proposed test reactor at its Vallecitos Atomic Laboratory in Alameda County of California. It is the purpose of this report to provide sufficient data to obtain an AEC facility license for the reactor.

From abstract: Absolute cross sections for the production of charged secondary particles is the bombardments of aluminum, nickel, silver, and gold by 332-Mev protons, 187-deuterons, and 380-Mev alpha particles have been determined.

The thermal-neutron flux prevailing near the upper hole in the HRE-2 core wall was determined from measurements of the induced activity in a specimen cut from the edge of the hole. The specimen was removed following run 21 and was thus exposed to reactor neutrons during runs 13, 14, 16,17, 18. 19, 20, and 21. The neutron flux, calculated for an average core power level of 2 Mw, was 2.8 x10^13 neutrons/cm^2 sec. the core wall area from which the specimen was removed was located approximately 16-in. from the core center.

From introduction: "In this report an attempt was made to summarize the results of recent research on the effective height of smoke stacks. In this summary attention is paid only to the case in which the density of the stack effluent is the same as that of the surrounding air."

The compositions of the compounds and fused salt mixtures referred to in the ANP project by numbers are given.

Disposal on a specific retention basic of certain radioactive liquid waste solutions emanating from separations from separations plants has been practiced at Hanford since 1944. As used at Hanford, the term "specific retention" is defined as that volume of waste liquids that may be disposed to the soil* and be held against the force of gravity by the molecular attraction between sand grains and the surface tension of the water, when expressed as percent of packed soil volume. In practice it represents the volume of liquid that may be discharged to a disposal pit of known dimensions without leakage to the ground, water, expressed as percent of the total volume of a column of soil with the same cross section as the pit, and extending from the bottom of the pit to the water table. It is recognized that some degree of lateral spreading will occur which has the effect of enlarging the volume of soil contacted by the liquid.

During the past year notable progress was made in several laboratories on design for linear accelerators in the energy range up to and above 1 Bev. Interest in linacs for this energy centers on two possible applications: first, as injectors for 300 to 1000 Bev synchrotrons, and second, as sources of intense meson beams. To review this progress, a conference jointly sponsored by the Brookhaven National Laboratory and Yale University was held at Brookhaven during the week of August 20, 1962.

A summary of the laboratory development program on aqueous uranium slurry fuels for the Homogenous Reactor Project during the period April 1951 through March 1953 is presented. These investigations were devoted primarily to a study of the uranium oxides in aqueous suspensions. It was concluded that U(VI) was most likely to be the stable valence state in such slurry fuels and it was shown that β-UO3·H2O platelet crystals were the stable modification at 250°C. Very pure slurries of β-UO3·H2O platelets, uranium concentration of 250g/liter and average particle size of about 10 μ, had favorable settling rates and could be easily redispersed. Their viscosity and corrosion rate in stainless steel were comparable with those in water. Exposure of these slurries to pile radiation disclosed that radiolytic hydrogen and oxygen gas pressure comparable in magnitude to those of uncatalyzed uranyl sulfate solutions could be expected. Fission products in the irradiated slurries were predominantly associated with the solids. Radiation also tended to promote caking of these solids on the walls of the radiation bombs. Uranyl phosphate and the magnesium uranates were briefly investigated as alternate system but were not found satisfactory. The program was discontinued before the feasibility of uranium slurries for reactor …

Report summarizing data from Purex tests for pulse column specifications. These test results were used to estimate pilot plant specifications.

From abstract: "This report summarizes the past year of study of fine, molded, multicrystalline graphites with particular reference to the interrelation among certain properties with the composition, fabricating techniques, and thermal treatments found to influence them."

Abstract. A summary of the effect of metal, carbon, silicon, and oxygen impurities upon the various sulfide refractories is given and the proper procedures for elimination of the impurities are discussed. CeS which is properly prepared can be handled in air without danger of catching fire or appreciable oxidation. 650 satisfactory crucibles have been made to date using sulfides which were screened and pressed in air with less than 0.5% oxygen pickup. The other cerium and thorium sulfides are even more inert to oxidation than is CeS. Phase diagram possibilities are discussed for the cerium and thorium sulfide and oxy-sulfide systems. Further study of the ThS has shown that ThS crucibles are the highest melting and least volatile of the sulfide crucibles and ThS may be used for remelting of some metals up to 2000 degrees C. ThS crucibles appear to be the most suitable containers for metal reductions.

Summary: A method was found for determining calcium concentrations in TBP process streams in spite of serious interferences bysodium, ferrous, uranyl, sulfate, phosphate, and sulfamate ions as well as by TBP. The precision attainable varied from sample to sample, depending upon its composition. In general, errors of 20% or greater occurred. The smallest determinable amount of calcium was about 10 mg/1.

An empirical approach for the evaluation of shielding materials for macrochemical manipulations of spontaneously fissioning heavy elements (curium and californium) has revealed interesting comparisons. High-density metal halide solutions were compared with lead glass and with rare earth glass for use as shielding windows. Laminated shields of lead-paraffin and uranium-paraffin were compared with water and with paraffin for shielding walls.

This is the third quarterly report that documents a system of mass flow that can record measurements of homogeneous flow, slurries, highly corrosive fluids and multiphase fluids, additionally considering pressure drops, measuring external to the flow, ruggedness and reliability.

By use of small magnetic probes inserted into the discharge, the magnetic field distributions in the interior of a high-power pinched discharge have been measured as a function of time. From these data the current distributions can be deduced. By applying a static pressure calculation, in the cases when the radical pinch accelerations are small, the plasma pressure nkT in the pinch has been determined, with superimposed axial magnetic fields, and for stable and unstable configurations.

Technical report abstract. The present state of knowledge concerning the effect of pile radiation on a variety of solid materials is reviewed. Radiation corrosion will not be a serious hazard for aluminum or stainless steel but it can be for iron or lead if either are exposed to water. Apart from corrosion the principal uncertainty is in regard to the Wigner effect on the behavior of metals. There is at present no ground for optimism regarding the behavior of tuballoy. The effect on aluminum or a bonding material while less severe must also be considered serious. The expectation in regard to graphite is that its behavior will not cause trouble during the first 100 days of operation although serious troubles will probably arise within two years of operation. Organic materials can be used safely only in regions of limited exposure.

The following document describes some studies of the radioactive isotopes of cerium and lanthanum lying on the light or neutron-deficient side of stability.

Objective: "The observations summarized in the present report were made to determine the stability of ferrous and sulfamate ions and sulfamic acid in RA Column scrub solution (RAS) and in aqueous solution comparable to the RA Column feed tee composition (RAFS). Knowledge of the stability of the reducing agent (ferrous iron) is necessary to properly plan the method of preparation and introduction of this component into the RA system and to assure dependable and reproducible performance."

High speed data handling and computing systems are coming into increasing use in the automatic control of complex industrial processes. One of the next significant developments in reactor design is believed to be the application of high speed data handling and control systems to nuclear reactors. This document is a study of such a system intended for use with the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor.

New systems involving the exchange of boron between boron trifluoride and boron trifluoride addition compounds have been explored. These systems have large separation factors and potentially simple reflux mechanisms. A precise determination of this separation factor for the anisole-boron trifluoride system gave the value (see report). Boron exchange was found to occur between BF and BCl3. Several homogenous catalysts have been found which activate the hydrogen-water exchange, but none are adoptable to the production of deuterium because of the slow exchange rate. Platinum or platinum oxide may be usable as a heterogeneous catalyst with proper support or dispersion techniques. The high-pressure solubility of hydrogen in several amalgams was investigated in connection with a unique countercurrent exchange system. A proposed system involving isotopic exchange between lithium dipivaloylmethane in diethyl ether and lithium hydroxide in aqueous solution was shown to give little or no isotopic separation. Column studies of the carbonate system exchange reaction were concluded with a 40°C run. Slightly higher enrichment of N15 was obtained than at 30°C . The temperature dependence of all in this system was measured between 15 and 45°C. The factor increases with temperature, showing a tendency toward a maximum near 45°C. Isotopic exchange appears to …

Unclassified experimental data concerned with the oxidation characteristics of Nb and Nb-base alloys are presented. The bulk of the results is presented in tabular form and cataloged under laboratory name sub-headings. The theory of alloy development for oxidation resistance is discussed. Methods of evaluating oxidation behavior are outlined.

When the nucleus of an atom in a crystalline solid undergoes radiative neutron capture there is disruption of the crystal in the vicinity of the event due to energetic processes accompanying the nuclear transformation. This local disruption has been termed a "hot-zone" or "displacement spike". The chemical state of a transformed recoil atom immediately following transformation is unknown. Within a microsecond the "hot zone" has cooled sufficiently to "freeze" the recoil atom into a stable (or metastable) chemical state. A fraction of the metastable recoil atoms can undergo thermal annealing reactions, and the chemical nature of the metastable state can sometimes be inferred from annealing data. It is characteristic of these reactions that the recoil atoms tend to be reincorporated into the parent chemical form.

A study of the effects of gamma radiation with respect to the formation of nitro-hydrocarbons on the Purex and Redox systems shows that no appreciable formation of nitro-paraffins occurs.