This report presents the results of a study that argues the importance of providing thermal energy from steam-electric power plants to urban areas.

Measurements of the interfacial tension between water and tributyl phosphate solutions were made for application to the analysis of Marengoni effect in solvent extraction. A 24 hr flame calcination run to product Th02 particles yielded 40% as product and 54% collected from the furnace walls and from a coarse particle trap. The elution rates of uranyl ion from Dowex 21K using sodium nitrate could be approximated by assuming apparent diffusion coefficients of 1.67 x 10^-7 and 1.18 x 10 ^-7 cm^2/sec, respectively for 960µ and 820µ resn while the corresponding apparent coefficients using sodium chloride were 1. 78 x 10^-7 and 1.27 x 1-^-7 cm^2/sec. The reacting surface of ThO2 Universal Match Co. pellets was determined as a function of fraction dissolved. The lead scews and companion nuts from both the multipurpose saw and dejacketing machine were coated with a baked on lubricant. In Zirflex decladding studies using 4.5 M NH4F - 0.5 M NH4NO3, the average dissolution rate of Zircaloy-2 was decreased only 10% when the overhead condensate was withdrawn and 1.0 M NH4OH was added to maintain the volume.

A cross section tape has been prepared containing data for elements of most interest for aqueous homogeneous reactor multigroup diffusion calculations involving combinations of 150, 200, 240, 260, and 280°C temperatures. This tape permits multigroup analysis of a reactor in which two or more regions are at different temperatures.

A multiple controller system for a single process is formulated in block diagram form. It is shown that for the general case of n controllers and one type of cross coupling, the system equations can be reduced to the standard forms of servomechanism theory. The effects of failure in individual controllers are examined, and it is demonstrated that the system shows considerable promise for both reliability and maintenance without process interruption.

"An analysis is presented of the accidental release of activity following the operation of the NS "Savannah" at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation docks in Camden, New Jersey. Although a number of accidents are considered, the report is primarily concerned with the environmental activity levels and subsequent exposures which would result from the "maximum credible accident" (p. v).

The equilibrium and maximum override values for xenon and samarium poisoning have been computed using the recently issued effective cross sections of C. H. Westcott. Values are given as a function of specific power, neutron temperature, and epithermal flux content.

Analyses are generally made at the ORR with a view toward determining the surface temperatures of fuel plates.

A review of helium sources, availability, consumption, and future production capacity indicates that the helium consumed in the operation of 100 helium-cooled reactors for 300-Mwe power plants over a 20-year period will run no more than a few per cent of the helium consumed in the U. S. in the next 25 years and less than 1% of the helium that is to be stored during that period under the helium conservation act of 1960 (Public Law 86-777).

THOROBRED is an IBM-704 code for the calculation of nuclear and economic characteristics of two-region homogeneous reactors operating on a U-Th fuel cycle in the steady state. The major input variables are reactor dimensions, power level, thorium concentration, chemical and purification systems cycle times, corrosion rates, fraction of Pa loss, and nuclear and economic data. The output includes equilibrium isotope concentrations, neutron balance, and a breakdown of fuel cost. Running times are normally less than one minute per case.

A listing and description is given of the experiments associated with the HFIR Critical Experiment-2. The primary experiments concern the reactivity of the bare core, reactivity worth of "gray" control plates, core-power distribution, reactivity. The secondary experiments concern the reactivity of the fuel, and the reactivity worth of a "partial" gray plate.

The absorption in lead of Bremsstrahlung X radiation from a Sr^90 TiO3 pellet in the proximity of Hastelloy "C" was measured. The tenth value layer of the more energetic components of the X-ray continuum was determined to be 1.60 inches.

A carrier containing 138.99 liters of solution, uranium concentration 202.04 g/liter with an isotopic concentration of 97.3% U-233, was prepared for shipment. The total uranium was 28,062 +/- 60 g (95% confidence level) and the U-233, 27,305 +/- 66 g (95% confidence level).

A nonnuclear explosion involving an evaporator occurred in a shielded cell in the Radiochemical Processing Pilot plant at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Plutonium released from the processing cell contaminated areas in the pilot plant building and nearby streets and building surfaces. The explosion is considered the result of rapid reaction of nitrated organic compounds formed by the inadvertent nitration of about 14 liters of a proprietary decontaminating reagent.

Simulated reactor fuel solutions were circulated at temperatures as high as 365°C in a small titanium pump loop. A hydroclone separator separated heavy phases formed at high temperatures. As the temperature of the solution was increased beyond the two-liquid-phase temperature (327°C), the salt concentration of the light phase decreased and the acid concentration increased. The mole ratios of uranium to sulfate, uranium to copper, and uranium to nickel in the light phase decreased in the same proportion in the temperature range of 330 to 365°C. Corrosion of titanium and Zircaloy-2 specimens was insignificant during the relatively short exposure periods.

Startup accident and pump run-down on the ORR have been simulated on the Reactor Controls Analog Facility. At full flow the 150% level scram (45 Mv) easily terminates the startup accident before the metal temperature gets above 180°F. For very low flows typical of criticality runs, temperature coefficients turn the excursion before it reaches 150% of full power, and temperatures climb to boiling, a potentially hazardous condition. (This same behavior can occur at full flow is the power is increased to the point where the level scram must be set above 50 Mw).

In a gas-cooled reactor operating at very high power density the thickness of the reflector may be determine by the requirement that the steel pressure vessel be protected from an excessive dose of fast neutrons, rather than by the usual requirements of neutron economy and power distribution. It is important the the reflector not be made thicker than necessary, since an increase in pressure vessel diameter can result in a marked increase in cost, as well as a decrease in the permitted gas pressure level.

Chemical and engineering data were obtained for the feed digestion system and the extraction-scrub step of the Monex tributyl phosphate solvent-extraction process for recovering thorium and uranium from nitric acid-digested unclarified monasite sludge. Tests of the recommended conditions in a 2-in.-dia pulsed column demonstrated that thorium losses were approximately 1.2% and uranium losses, 1.5%. The flowsheet is workable but is not necessarily optimum.

Resistance of carbon steel to corrosion in oxygenated high-temperature (250C) water was unexpectedly good at high oxygen concentration. Pertinent literature, critically examined, and toroid experiments indicted that at low oxygen concentration attack did increase with concentration, but as oxygen concentration was sufficiently increased, more protective films were formed on the metal. Some corrosion factors in the application of carbon steel to nuclear reactors systems are discussed.

After several failures had occurred in the HRT leak detector system, several lengths of this tubing were removed for metallurgical examination. The tubing was of type 304 stainless steel and was 1/4" in diameter with a 0.065 wall. The tubing had been purchased as three different lots, the first in 45 ft. lengths and the other two as standards lengths. Tubing from the first lot was used primarily for the shield penetration and, therefore, sections of it are present in all lines of the system. It appears that chloride contamination entered the system in a portion of the first lot of tubing used for the shield penetration. The exact source of the chloride cannot be determined, but after considering the results and visiting the manufacturer's plant, it appears most likely the contamination was during the manufacturing process.

A second test of the mockup of the Zircaloy - stainless steel transition joint as used in the HRT reactor vessel has been completed. The joint and bellows have now received 104 thermal cycles and 148 mechanical deflections. The joint and bellows have functioned properly; corrosion damage has been negligible, except for a small area on the bellows which has undergone pitting attack. Long-term runs with uranyl sulfate solutions of the concentration proposed or use in the HRT have shown the solution to be stable at 300 C. Substituting heavy water for normal water caused no difference in either corrosion or solution stability. Experiments in which chromic acid was used to pretreat stainless steel have shown that, under certain conditions, the pretreated film can exist in uranyl sulfate solutions at flow rates in excess of the critical velocity for relatively long periods of time. The practicability of using titanium inserts in high turbulent areas of stainless steel loops to minimize corrosion has been demonstrated. The corrosiveness of beryllium sulfate solutions containing dissolved uranium trioxide has been determined at 250 and 280 C. Laboratory studies with regard to stress-corrosion cracking have shown that high stressed type 347 stainless steel will crack …

Chloride-induced stress-corrosion cracking has been encountered in the Homogeneous Reactor Test during the preliminary testing. The rector is constructed of austenitic stainless steels. It is unique in that it will operate at 250 to 300 C with an aqueous uranyl sulfate solution fuel containing 200 to 500 ppm of dissolved oxygen. The cracking has occurred in a secondary system used for detecting leaks in the flanged joints of the primary systems and in the grooves of flanges in the primary systems. Tubing used in the leak-detection system was found to be contaminated with chloride introduced during manufacture.

Catalysts for use in recombining the gases produced by the radiolytic decomposition of water in thorium oxide slurries under neutron irradiation were investigated in out-of-pile tests using stoichiometric mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen. Most favorable results were obtained with a molybdenum oxide catalyst. Satisfactory rate also were attained with palladium and silver oxides. Copper, nickel, vanadium and chromium compounds were less effective.

A promising scheme for the chemical processing of a thorium breeder reactor of the two-region aqueous homogeneous type consists of the following operations: concentration of insoluble fission and corrosion products from the core system into a small volume of fuel solution, combining this slurry with irradiated thorium oxide slurry taken from the blanket, recovery of D2O by evaporation, dissolution of the thorium and uranium in HNO3, and, after a suitable cooling period, recovery of the uranium and thorium by solvent extraction for return to the reactor. The use of a hydroclone and underflow container arrangement for concentrating insoluble fission and corrosion products under simulated reactor conditions has been successfully demonstrated on dynamic loops. Solids concentration factors greater than 103 were demonstrated, and equilibrium solids concentration in the circulating solution less than 1 ppm was attained in these tests. Present data indicate that proper design and operation will minimize solids deposition in the reactor system and that the insoluble impurities can be effectively removed by the hydroclone. An alternate method of processing the slurry removed from the core system by the hydroclone consists of removing the room temperature insolubles by centrifugation, recovering the uranium from the supernatant by peroxide precipitation, thermal …

When it was discovered that two HRT flange bolts of a lot of 16 spares contained serious cracks, a program was launched to (1) determine the cause for the cracking, and (2) find methods for non-destructive testing the remainder of the 672 bolts shipment, a large portion of which had been installed in the HRT. Concurrently, inspection of 8 ferrules removed from an HRT flange revealed hairline cracking in 4 of them. Magnaglo, a magnetic particle inspection method using a fluorescent dye, proved to be the only definitive method for inspecting the bolts. The evidence gathered on the bolts pointed to quench cracking as the cause for the defects. Nothing abnormal was disclosed in regard to the bolt material. The alloy and heat treatment at present prescribed for the HRT bolts and ferrules are considered suitable. However, recommendations are made for plating with zinc, instead of formerly prescribed cadmium, to a thickness of 0.0002 inch, followed by a hydrogen relief treatment and a final bichromate chemical dip.