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.

From introduction: "This report presents the apparent viscosities of supernate-sludge slurries prepared synthetically to simulate the conditions known to exist in the waste storage tanks, but with fission products and plutonium absent."

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.

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.

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.

A systematic set of thermodynamic data for most of the known compounds of plutonium is presented. From earlier data present, it is now possible to extend the tabulation of data for the compounds of plutonium to include PuF(4), PuF(5), and PuF(6).

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.

Report issued by the APDA regarting studies conducted on the state of uranium at different temperature and pressure. Calculations are presented for the differing pressures of uranium; it includes tables.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

An improved method of water plant control has been developed at Hanford which employs a sensitive turbidiy measuring microphorometer and a model water filtration plant. The microphotometer operates on a light scattering principle and is accurate in the range of 0.0 to 0.1 parts per million turbidity. The model filter plant used is a five gallon per minute plant which can simulate the conditions normally occurring in the large water plants. It is the purpose of this report to describe the model filter plant and to demonstrate the value of the model and microphotometer for effective water plant control and water plant design scoping.

"The attached report summarizes the work performed in the establishment of an improved spectrographic method for determining iron in plutonium."

"Centrifugal-casting techniques were investigated as a method of producing hollow cylindrical extrusion billets of aluminum-35 w/o uranium. Among the variables evaluated were melt temperature, mold and pouring-spout configurations, mold speed, and method of pouring. With the equipment employed it was found that the best castings were produced stilizing a pouring temperature of 2400 F, a heavy-walled steel cylinder rotating between 700 to 900 rpm for the mold and bottom-pouring technique employing a retractable pouring spout. Sound, nonporous billets 26 in. long and 5 in. in diameter were produced with a yield after machining of over 75 per cent of the original charge. The major losses occurred in the pouring spout-and-cup assembly. This loss is relatively unaffected by the casting length; and, therefore, coatings of greater length than 26 in. should results in even greater recoveries.

Reactivity measurements conducted in the Hanford Test Pile are interpreted to yield resonance integrals for uranium, uranium oxide, thorium and thorium oxide. The experiments were made using cadmium filters and are discussed in terms of the multiplication factor of the Hanford Test Pile.

From abstract: "Within the framework of age theory an expression is developed which represents the probability of a neutron being reflected with an energy loss corresponding to age, v, as a function of reflector thickness."

The following report studies the effect of flow rates and deposition pressure on the zirconium deposition in the zirconium pilot plant with the use of a Hilco oil purifier for the vacuum pumps that permitted studies to continue through the month.