Technical report abstract: Sodium hydride and triethylborane react to form sodium triethylhydroborate, NaBH(C2H5)3. This compound, a liquid at rooom temperature, was found to be soluble in hexane and mineral oil. A study was made of the thermal decomposition of sodium triethylhydroborate and its behavior toward boron trifluoride, boron trichloride, methyl borate, carbon dioxide, silane, and ethylene. Sodium triisopropoxyhydroborate, NaBH(OC3H7)3, was prepared and also found to be soluble in hexane and mineral oil. The reactions of this compound with methyl borate, triethylborane, silicon tetrachloride, and boron trichloride were investigated.

The objective of this report is to analyze the basic engineering problems involved in the design of a pressurized demonatration reactor to be moderated and cooled with heavy water. Two fundamental concepts of this reactor, here referred to as the HWER, are as follows: (1) a tank-type reactor, in which the moderator pressure is maintained at or near atmospheric conditions, and (2) a pressurized vessel-type reactor in which the moderator pressure is maintained at 1000 to 1300 psi. The fuel and primary coolant channels in either case will be designed for an internal pressure pressure of 1000 to 13000 psi.

The first and third slugs downstream from the H-Loop ruptured and a piece of can wall from the ruptured slug were received from Pile Materials Sub-Section for metallurgical examination. The examination has been completed and the extent and type off aluminum corrosion which occurred on these samples has been determined.

This quarterly progress report of the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project at ORNL records the technical progress of the research on circulating-fuel reactors and ether ANP research at the Laboratory under its Contract W-7405-eng-26. The report is divided into three major parts: I. Reactor Theory, Component Development, and Construction, II. Materials Research, and III. Shielding Research.

Approximately 15,000 "P" Process Aluminum caps clad with aluminum-silicon on the face and sides have been successfully canned. These caps were fabricated by the Aluminum Company of America from clad plate stock. An increase in canned slug yield of about two percent was realized from using these caps and no significant process problems indicated that the additional cost of clad plate might be off-set by the elimination of the centerless grinding now required on the side of the cap base. Therefore, processing of at least 100,000 additional aluminum-silicon clad caps is recommended, and consideration should be given at this time to completely converting from the present cap design to the aluminum-silicon clad cap.

On May 2, 1955, a request for comments on the construction and design of proposed continuous calciners was submitted to this unit by W. M. Harty. This request was complied with and a letter containing comments and suggestions on the design and construction of these calciners was written to him on May 6, 1955. The major suggestions were: 1) that the shell of the calciner be made as thin as possible, using external ribbing for structural strength, and 2) that the material of construction be type 304-L stainless steel welded with type 308-L rod. The recommendation regarding design was based on work performed by Collins, Krivobok, and this unit, which indicated that thick sections, on the order of one inch, tend to crack when subjected to thermal cycling. Type 304-L stainless steel was recommended as the material of construction because of its resistance to weld and base metal cracking, and because recent investigations indicate that a neucleation of precipitated carbides occurs after extended service in the sensitizing temperature range. On May 25, 1955, this unit received a letter from W. M. Harty stating that, on the basis of design considerations, the calciners would be fabricated from one inch thick type …

Much of the shielding work carried out with the Bulk Shielding Reactor (BSR) has yielded data of particular interest for the design of swimming pool type reactors, However, it is often difficult for a reactor designer to locate such data since it may be recorded in a report primarily concerned with shielding problems. Therefore, this memorandum presents a bibliography of reports from the Bulk Shielding Facility arranged according to the application of data to the various aspects of reactor design.

Semiannual Progress report of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Chemistry Division providing updates on various projects, experiments, and other work in inorganic and physical chemistry, nuclear chemistry, organic chemistry, chemical physics, chemistry of separation processes, radiation chemistry, and reactor chemistry.

This twenty-sixth quarterly report of the research and development activities of the Radiological Sciences Department, Hanford Atomic Products Operation, as before, includes some items charged to control but included for general interest. Such are identified as "not charged to research". The previous report of this series was numbered HW-41026 January 11, 1956.

This technical report reports progress in the following areas: (1) Effect of scaling time; (2) Influence of specimen shape; (3) Effect of pretreatment; (4) Possible mechanism of growth; and (5) Future work.

Knowledge of the effects of interaction between vessels or units containing fissionable material is important for the safe handling, storage, and shipping of these containers. Expressions for the effect of neutron interaction on criticality have been derived for the cases of bare and tamped spheres as well as tamped, infinitely tall cylinders containing fissionable material. The method considered did not apply to the interaction between bae cylinders. In practice, the interaction between vessels in a separations plant or between storage units in an array more nearly approaches the bare condition than it does the tamped condition. The formulation of a method that is applicable to bare or water-tamped and to tall or short vessels will be presented at this time.

In reduction reactions of CeO₂, with calcium and a CaCl₂ flux, the use of vibrational energy was shown to have a marked effect on the yield of coalesced metal. Buttons of 40 to 50% theoretical yield were obtained from the vibrated reductions. As the flux concentration is decreased, the slag becomes more viscous containing undissolved CaO. The undissolved CaO present prevents the metal from completely coalescing, but the metal can be recovered from the slag and coalesced under CaCl₂ containing a small amount of calcium to reduce any oxide skin present. Cerium pellet yields of 50 to 60% metal were obtained by the procedure and were not difficult to handle in air. Cerium was used as a stand-in material for plutonium.

The use of process-solution-lubricated sleeve bearings in rotating equipment is quite extensive at H.A.P.O. The difficulty or impossibility of providing contact maintenance, the poor lubricating qualities and corrosive natures of most of the process solutions, in addition to radioactivity, impose stringent restrictions on the selection of materials of construction of these bearings. Prototypical evaluation of materials indicating suitable characteristics in preliminary testing, both in the Corrosion Laboratory and in the bearing test machines, is necessary to establish behavior and compatibility under actual or simulated process conditions. These preliminary tests showed that gold and gold alloys might be used as satisfactory materials for pump bearings under certain conditions. This report presents the test results obtained while testing bearings in pumps prototypical or identical with process plant equipment.