Abstract: This report summarizes data developed at the Instrument and Controls Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory on low noise amplifiers used with solid state detectors.

Abstract: This report describes a 300,000-kwe, sodium-cooled, graphite-moderated nuclear power plant based on existing technical information.

Report issued by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory discussing quarterly progress made by the Homogeneous Reactor Program. It includes descriptions of progress and studies conducted during the report period, with tables, illustrations, and photographs.

"Investigations into the behavior of the gas flow behind spherical or cylindrical blasts have shown that secondary shocks arise within the original detonation gases. The secondary shock, at first weak, is carried outward with the expanding gases. Subsequently it strengthens and bends back toward the origin, arriving there with high intensity. By using some recently developed techniques in shock dynamics a theory is developed by which the motion of the main shock wave, as well as the formation and subsequent motion of the secondary shock, are given by explicit formulae."

The Irradiation Test Program for the Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor was conducted to obtain confirmation of the stability and performance of the reference fuel element materials and of test assemblies under design operation conditions. The irradiated specimens were tested to determine mechanical properties and corrosion resistance to borated water.

The adequacy of the Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor (CETR) control rod drive line operation was evaluated and proven by the development program described in this report. This program also included evaluation of materials and fabrication processes.

The Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor Control System has been designed to provide the operators with a reliable, safe and accurate means of controlling the plant. Manual and automatic positioning of control rods can be accomplished. The automatic plant controller has been designed to meet the design criteria under the representative CETR demanded load changes. Adaptability has been built into the plant controller by providing variable controller adjustments for variations in reactor characteristics. Extensive analog studies have been made of the various plant parameters and their effect on control was carefully evaluated. These analog studies have shown that the control system will perform in a satisfactory manner under the most adverse plant conditions.

A study has been performed to determine the corrosion product and water impurity activities in the CETR Chemical Process System. A simplified mathematical model is used to represent the physical situation; however, the magnitude of the activities, taken at the end of the core life to represent the most conservative case, is considered sufficiently accurate for engineering calculations.

Prototype testing and thorough design analyses have proven the control components for the Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor are adequate to withstand loads imposed during operation and handling. Assumptions made in the design analyses and cycles run during prototype testing subjected the components to more rigid conditions that are anticipated during actual operation. Results indicate the control components meet their design requirements.

Technical report. From Abstract: "A method was developed for fabricating tubular fuel elements of uranium dioxide by swage compaction of crushed, fused UO2. The elements were 5 to 10 feet long and were clad with stainless steel. UO2 densities up to 91% of theoretical were obtained in tubes about 2.1 inches in outside diameter and 0.3 inch in wall thickness."

A program has begun embodying a study of the diffusion rates of krypton and xenon into unirradiated UO2 and UC at temperatures between 1000°C and 2500°C.The experimental technique is described in some detail, involving exposure of UO2 and UC samples to a Kr85 atmosphere at various temperatures, removal of surface-adsorbed krypton, dissolution of the sample, collection and ion chamber measurement of the diffused Kr, and calculation of diffusion coefficients from these data.

Report that summarizes the potential hazards of the Hanford Critical Mass Laboratory and presents operation procedures which will limit the probability of a nuclear accident. The report also outlines the planned experimental program, descriptions of the facility, and the administration of nuclear safety in the laboratory.

Report discussing the dissolution of simulated fuel cores. Equipment and procedures are discussed along with significant characteristics of the core materials.

Report discussing the "equilibrium uranium distribution between an aqueous nitric acid solution and a 30 per cent by volume solution of tributyl phosphate in a hydrocarbon diluent" (p. 2). This includes the necessary equations.

"The visible absorption spectra of VA3, CrA3, MnA3, FeA3 and CoA3 (A=C5H7O2, the acetylacetonate anion) are reported. The interpretation of the data in respect to the symmetry and strength of the ligand fields is discussed, with special attention to the presence and magnitudes of trigonal components in ligand fields and its consistency with certain results of paramagnetic trigonal fields of appreciable magnitude are present."

"This is the first quarterly report on Task II of the subject Utilization of Radioactive Isotopes in Coal Process Research. There were two separate projects on Tank I; I. methods Development for Tritium Labeling of Coal Product Hydro-carbons, and II. Applications of Radio-Tracer Techniques to the Study of Fluidized Particle Mechanics. The following extended work on Task II concerns only Methods Development of Radio-Tracing With Tritium."

This report deals with the structural and lithologic features within and adjacent to the San Juan mineral belt and the relation of these features to the ore deposits.

The purpose of this experiment is to study the quantitative adsorption characteristics of a carbon adsorber bed receiving a radioactive inert gas in a helium stream. An objective of the experiment is to measure the equilibrium transmission of the radio-active gas through a carbon adsorber in order to determine if radio-active decay of the adsorbed gas permits additional adsorption.

Tests were conducted to determine the friction factor of randomly packed beds of 3/4-inch diameter spheres in 8-inch and 15-1/4-inch diameter beds, and of 1-1/2-inch diameter spheres in 15-1/4-inch diameter bed. The bed depths were varied in an attempt to isolate the effects of entrance and exit losses. The bed Reynolds number, base on sphere diameter, was varied from 5,000 to 50,000.

Abstract: Development of welding processes for stainless steel fuel elements, previously initiated by Alco Products, was continued in Task 5. Three objectives were accomplished; (1) development of a suitable reference welding process, (2) evaluation by out-of-pile tests of the structural integrity of reference welded fuel elements, and (3) preparation of specifications and fabrication procedures for the reference welding process.

"Recent theoretical advances in describing the nucleon-nucleon interaction (particularly in the T=1 state) have emphasized the importance of obtaining an unambiguous experimental determination of the scattering matrix so that the nuclear phase shifts and details of the nuclear potential may be revealed. It is possible to select five experiments, the results of which, in principle at least, determine the scattering matrix and phase shifts uniquely at one energy. Two of these experiments, the cross section and polarization over the angular range of 0 to 90 degrees in the center of mass system, have been made at the University of Rochester at a laboratory energy of about 210 Nev."

"The lifetimes of approximately 6 million positive mesons have been measured using a crystal controlled oscillator as a clock. The resulting decay curve was analyzed on the IBM 650 digital computer and gave a mean life of 2,211 plus or minus 0.003 µsec. The mean life of negative mu mesons in carbon was also measured and found to be 2,043 plus or minus 0.003 µsec. The resulting nuclear capture rate is (0.373 plus or minus 0.011)x10 to the 5th/sec, assuming that the decay rate of a negative mu meson bound in carbon is equal to the decay rate of the positive meson."