Chemistry of Feed Materials. Studies were made of the first step in the reduction of UO/sub 3/ to UO/sub 2/. The rates of reduction of pelleted- hydrated and pelleted-dehydrated UO/sub 3/ to U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ in steam were determined. The rates of reduction of pelleted U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ to UO/sub 2/ in 1-to-1 ammonia-steam were determined. Some preliminary measurements were made on the thermal conductivities of hydrated and dehydrated UO/sub 3/ wafers. Purification of Th(NO/sub 3/)/sub 4/ for spectrographic standards is described. Uranium was extracted from MgF/sub 2/ slag with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate --bicarbonate using 0/sub 2/ at 30 psi as an oxidant. The conversion of thorium benzoate to ThCl/sub 4/ was carried out with HCl in ether. Dimethyl ether was prepared by the catalytic dehydration of methanol. The processing of UO/sub 3/ containing As contamination is described. Metallurgical Investigations. A process for stripping Af and Ni coatings from flat plates is described. Analytical Chemistry. The spectrographic determination of dysprosium and gadolinium in lanthanum oxide matrix--rare earth concentrate is described. (W.L.H.)

Maywood Chemical Works (MCW) of Maywood, New Jersey, generated process wastes and residues associated with the production and refining of thorium and thorium compounds from monazite ores from 1916 to 1956. MCW supplied rare earth metals and thorium compounds to the Atomic Energy Commission and various other government agencies from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. Area residents used the sandlike waste from this thorium extraction process mixed with tea and cocoa leaves as mulch in their yards. Some of these contaminated wastes were also eroded from the site into Lodi Brook. At the request of the US Department of Energy (DOE), a group from Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducts investigative radiological surveys of properties in the vicinity of MCW to determine whether a property is contaminated with radioactive residues, principally {sup 232}Th, derived from the MCW site. The survey typically includes direct measurement of gamma radiation levels and soil sampling for radionuclide analyses. The survey of this site, 106 Columbia Lane, Lodi, New Jersey (LJ063), was conducted during 1987. Results of the survey demonstrated radionuclide concentrations in excess of the DOE Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program criteria. The radionuclide distributions are typical of the type of material originating …