This document presents the bases for those PRTR Process Specifications involving considerations of heat transfer and fluid flow. It will be noted that some of the bases incorporate information gained from laboratory experiments with electrically heated test sections simulating PRTR fuel elements. These experiments are described in some detail elsewhere.

Pressurized water nuclear reactors may be designed based upon either of two concepts: (1) pressure vessel, wherein the entire core is placed in a large, high strength fuel channels within a low pressure container. The Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor is a pressure tube type reactor. Selection of this basic type of pressurized water reactor depended to an appreciable extent upon the availability of suitable pressure tubing.

A correlation between the optical densities if the Pb-Sn alloy system and UO2 with respect to Co^60 gamma radiation has been determined. This enables one to fabricate density standards of whatever geometry may be desired for one in the gamma absorptiometer by simply casting a Pb-Sn alloy of the proper composition to correspond to the density required.

Ultrasonic cleaning uses high-frequency sound waves to induce cavitation within a cleaning, medium. During cavitation, millions of small bubbles form and collapse, resulting in agitation proportional to the energy put into the solution. The making and breaking of these bubbles produce the scrubbing action associated with ultrasonic cleaning.

In October 1959, a combination testing station developed at HAPO was reported to the Sheath committee. This testing station consisted of electronic instrumentation and mechanical scanning equipment to check coextruded fuel elements (rod and tube) for clad thickness, clad integrity, bond, and core integrity. The clad tests are performed by eddy current methods and the other are ultrasonic.

Facilities shall be provided in the 221-U Building for storing the metal solution product of the dissolution step in existing tankage from U, T, and B Plants until a reprocessing campaign is scheduled through Redox. This section shall provide a sampling tank for fuel accountability sampling and a pump tank from which the solution will be pumped via a cross-country pipeline to Redox for further processing.

The large scale application of Zircaloy-2 pressure tubes for structural use either in or out of reactor service, is without precedent. For more common materials, there normally are adequate data and long operating histories on which to base design and service limits. In the absence of such information for Zr-2, several investigative programs have been devised to provide much of the information from which design and service limits may be defined for Zr-2 pressure tubes. These investigations encompass in-and-out-of-reactor creep and stress-rupture testing, pre-and-post irradiation testing, and bust strength, as well as the effect of flaws or defects (from both fabrication and service origins) on burst strength and fracture characteristics. Already creep and stress rupture testing of unirradiated Zircaloy-2 is well advanced, and some experimental pre-irradiation burst testing has been carried out and will be extended rapidly as improved equipment becomes available. One irradiated KER tube sample has been burst tested and the requirement for post irradiation burst testing equipment have been defined.

In the past several years the use of neutron monitors for Pu concentration monitoring has been expanded in the Chemical Processing Department. Most of these monitors have been quite successful, and considerable effort is being made to improve the operation of both existing and future monitoring systems. One of the major improvements has been the development and use of a transistorized pre-amplifier or impedance matching circuits. This unit solves several problems associated with the use of boron trifluoride (BF3) neutron detectors in process monitoring; e.g., vacuum tube pre-amp failure because heat is not being conducted away.

Calcination of liquid radioactive wastes, the process of converting metal nitrates and sulfates to oxides by heat, is under development at Hanford as a means of reducing these liquids to a dry powder or solid which can be stored safely. Radiant-heat spray calcination, one of the methods under study, was first investigated at the Oak Ridge K-25 Plant (1) as a possible method of calcining uranyl nitrate to uranium trioxide. The process has also been under extensive development at the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada (2) and is designated by them as the Atomized Suspension Technique.

Limitations on the service life of a fuel element imposed by degradation of the fissile core during irradiation have been a matter of great concern. Limitations imposed by changes in cladding properties during irradiation should be evaluated with equal care. Zircaloy-2, stainless steel, and aluminum alloys have been irradiated in the form of cladding on metallic and ceramic fuel elements. Several aspects of fuel behavior as influenced by these clad materials will be discussed. All observations related to irradiation behavior in this paper have been made on fuel specimens irradiated in water coolant.

The primary purpose of a cleanup system in a recirculating water loop is to maintain the best possible water quality conditions. This is normally accomplished by continuously purifying all or a portion of the coolant. A secondary objective of the cleanup system is to help maintain the system pH at a constant value. A system that will satisfactorily accomplish both of these objectives is at times difficult to obtain. Generally the pH control characteristics are sacrificed in favor of the more important cleanup requirements. A somewhat new approach to the problem pf cleanup system design appears to offer a solution to this problem for high pH systems.

The majority of two-phase flow problems involving equations of state are solved by use of point-wise utilization steam table values. In this manner, problems involving the use of the various flow equations of continuity, momentum and energy are generally forced into iterative solutions. Considerable effort towards the development of an analytical expression for the state equation seems indicated so as to simplify the analysis of two-phase problems, particularly the transient cases. The question of instability of state and mixture condition is particularly apparent in the analysis of systems undergoing phase transformation as demonstrated by the significant difference between simple theory and experimental critical flow determinations. The assumption of homogeneous, equilibrium mixtures is indicated as a first attack upon the problem.

aluminum has been considered as a material for cladding fuel elements to be used in reactors cooled by high-temperature recirculating water. Aluminum is abundant, chap, has a relatively low cross section for thermal neutrons, and is readily fabricated into complex shapes. For these reasons, it appears that the use of aluminum rather than steel, Zircaloy or other candidate materials for fuel element cladding, would result in considerable savings in operating expense. The actual economics will of course depend on specific factors such as core materials and design of the reactor/. Aluminum appears particularly attractive for cladding the cores of aluminum-plutonium alloy proposed for the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor since, in this case, the physical characteristics of the core and cladding would be practically identical.

When light propagates with the wave normal in the direction of an optic axis of a biaxial crystal, the usual ray theory breaks down. This phenomenon can be analyzed by means of an asymptotic solution of Maxwell's equations. The intensity is governed by a partial differential equation within the phase surfaces, instead of ordinary differential equations along rays. This example slows that light does not always propagate along rays. A similar phenomenon occurs in hydromagnetics.

A geometrical treatment has been used to outline the theoretical properties of optical fibers which are imperfect as well as geometrically and optically perfect. Experiments have been performed to measure some to the optical properties of individual fibers and fiber bundles.

This bibliography contains 94 references on metal hydrides, with particular emphasis placed on the hydrides of titanium, yttrium, and zirconium. The bibliography covers the period 1955 through 1959. The references are arranged alphabetically by title. Sources used in compiling this bibliography are: Applied Science and Technology Index, Abstracts of Classified Reports, ASM Review of Metal Literature, Bibliographies of Interest to the Atomic Energy Program, Classified and Unclassified Parts, Industrial Arts Index, Internal Card Catalog, Monthly List of Bibliographies in the Atomic Energy Program, U.S.A.E.C. Technical Information Service Extension, Nuclear Science Abstracts.

This bibliography contains 145 references on radiation effects on aluminum, elastomers, and lubricants. Also included are references on radiation units and conversion factors. The bibliography is limited to the period 1950 through 1959, with the references arranged alphabetically by title in five categories. An author index is provided. Sources used in compiling this bibliography are: Abstracts of Classified Reports, Bibliographies of Interest to the Atomic Energy Program: Classified and Unclassified Versions, Monthly List of Bibliographies in the Atomic Energy Program. U.S.A.E.C. Technical Information Service Extension, Nuclear Science Abstracts.

This bibliography contains 147 references on the fabrication of beryllium. References are also given on the brazing, casting, cladding, extrusion and welding of beryllium and some beryllium-rich alloys. The bibliography is limited to the period 1950 - 1959. references are arranged alphabetically by title, with author and subject indexes provided. Sources used in compiling this bibliography are: Abstracts of Classified Reports, ASM Review of Metal Literature, Bibliographies of Interest to the Atomic Energy Program - Classified and Unclassified Versions, Engineering Index, Nuclear Science Abstracts, TISE, List of Bibliographies in the Atomic Energy Program.

Abstract. An inexpensive method for detection of dust-loaded high efficiency filters is described. Air flow is continuously indicated by elementary pitot tubes and plastic rotameters. Accuracy obtained is within +- 15%. Information as to construction, installation, and use is presented.

Abstract. A fast-slow coincidence scintillation spectrometer for gamma-gamma cascade measurements following thermal neutron absorption in nuclei is now in operation at the Livermore 1-megawatt pool-type reactor. Design features of the spectrometer and experimental techniques in its use are discussed with particular emphasis on the application of the recently introduced sum-coincidence method for analysis of capture-gamma double cascades. A new technique for the determination of added neutron binding energy is presented and various types of coincidence data from appropriate experiments are illustrated.

Abstract. A conventional time-to-height converter operates by charging a capacitor to a voltage proportional to a time interval. To convert short time periods, the circuitry is limited by the stray capacities. A system was designed in which the Vernier chronotron principle is utilized to time scale the input time before time-to-height conversion. Accuracy is also improved over that attainable with conventional systems. The use of transistors is facilitated by the system design.

There has been a revival of interest over the last few years in the theory of the high energy photoelectric effect. this problem has been especially clarified by the work of Pratt. Others have also contributed as will be noted below. In particular these workers have shown that the formula for photoelectric absorption of hard gamma rays by the two K electrons of an atom, which is often quoted in the literature, is too large for heavy elements by a factor amounting to approximately 2 for Pb. It turns out that the error is due to a faulty procedure described in the reference (3), p. 396 for obtaining an estimate of the exact formula.

This is a selected bibliography of books, journal articles, and unclassified reports published on the state of matter at high pressure from 1950 to October 1959. Sources consulted were: Physics Abstracts, Nuclear Science Abstracts, Geophysical Abstracts, Library of Congress Monthly Index of Russian Accessions, and Chemical Abstracts.

Introduction. With the imminence of non-destructive landings of small instrumented payloads on the moon, many suggestions are being put forth as to methods of analyzing its surface. It is the purpose of this report to present a body of information which, it is hoped, will be useful in examining the feasibility of an early nuclear experiment to determine the elemental constituents of the lunar surface. The reasons for considering a nuclear approach is that it may be possible to perform an analysis without complex and elaborate manipulations, sample preparation or rigid geometrical constraints. Only those experimental designs which come within the presently-available or very-near-future general boundary conditions on weights, power, vehicles, etc., are discussed. The general approach is to consider the bombardment of the lunar surface with various nuclear beams and to examine the possible nuclear reactions which are know to be dependent on the mass and charge of the irradiated material. Then, those resultant radiations are sought which can be detected with little-or-no loss or distortion of the information which they contain.