Thermal neutron measurements made on five weapons during Operation Teapot indicated that these neutrons contribute at most 2 per cent of the total neutron dose in air. However, the total fluxes were high and thermal neutrons may become important under shielding conditions and may significantly affect the responses of the film badges and certain sensitive dose detectors, especially when the neutron to gamma flux ratio is high.

A spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of aluminum in plutonium-aluminum alloys. The alloys are dissolved in parchloric acid and the diluted solution electrolyzed using a mercury cathode to remove any iron present which would interfere in the subsequent analysis. Then plutonium is then separated from the aluminum by precipitation as the insoluble iodate, and the aluminum determined in the supernatant solution using aluminon as a color reagent.

The annealing or heat treatment of uranium in any medium other than a good vacuum or purified helium atmosphere, will lower the room temperature properties of ultimate strength, hardness and elongation. In general, the elongation of vacuum annealed uranium exceeds considerably the elongation of air or salt annealed uranium. Any annealing medium which permits contact of the uranium metal with atmospheric gases tends to produce low elongation and ductility and a lowering of the ultimate strength. The above is true for uranium in any solid form, whether it is rolled sheet, cast bars or plates, rolled rod, or extruded shapes. Annealing in the molten salt bath (65% potassium carbonate and 35% lithium carbonate), which is used by Los Alamos and other laboratories concerned with the fabrication of uranium, produces the lowest elongation or ductility and ultimate strength when compared to similar properties of metal annealed in the other media examined. Mass spectrometer analyses of the dissolved gases present in high ductility and low ductility uranium indicate that dissolved hydrogen is probably the chief cause of low physical properties.

"This report is written as a supplement to LAMS 2539. It is hoped that one will be able to read LAMS 2539, with emphasis on the fourth part (Memorandum N-4-79OU by 0. Farmer), with this memorandum to bridge the gaps and understand more about the model used and what the KIB Program can be used for. The system is defined by subsystems or subprograms: Thrust System, Heat Exchanger, Neutron Dynamics, Rod Actuator Dynamics, and Thermocouple Dynamics. The original Kiwi-B Flow System is included in the first part of LAMS 2539. This has been replaced by the newer system which includes a turbo-pump (per R, Bohl & E. Wheatley). This system will not be included here. Recommendations are made for improvement and more work in certain areas."

A method of numerical solution is developed for calculating the Lapre coolant pressure drop and power output with variable coolant inlet pressure, flow rate, and reactor solution temperature. The results of a series of calculations are presented that show excessive pressure drops and sonic exit flow as the flow rate is increased and the inlet pressure is decreased. Both supercritical and subcritical coolant flow regions are investigated. Reactor power is shown to be strongly dependent on the solution temperature in the region of 70O-75O degree F. At the design flow of 12 gal/min, excessive coolant pressure drops are encountered at inlet pressures of 2000 lb/in. and below.

An estimate was made of the upper bound for the half-time of dissociation at 100 atm for ammonia, methane, and propane at 2500 deg K and hydrogen at 5000 deg K. In each case a unimolecular reactron in the homogeneous gas phase was chosen as most suitable for this purpose. Slater's theory has been used to estimate the necessary frequency factors. The upper bounds to the half- time for dissociation range from 3 x 10⁻⁷ to 6 x 10⁻⁶ sec. Extrapolation of decomposition rate data obtained at --1000 deg C and 1 atm pressure gives smaller values for the half-time of dissociation.

From abstract: "To seek information for a better understanding of the phenomena involved in fall-out, a fireball effect was simulated in a small closed room by subjecting various materials to a high-current (~360 amp.) are produced between graphite electrodes, and anode being impregnated with radioactive materials. The time duration of the arc, power dissipated, and distance from the samples were controlled. The radioactivity which remained airborne, that which settled out onto the floor and its distribution, and that deposited on the test material was measured, and percentages of the total measured activity were determined."

A technique for the fusion welding of uranium has been under development and several methods of fusion welding have been investigated. The inert gas, shield arc method has proven to be the most satisfactory of the processes thus far examined. Uranium properly weld by this method was free from porosity, cracks, and oxide inclusions. Certain precautions and some special techniques were required to make good welds.

Most books on the subject of gas discharges describe the multiple banded structure which appears in the flow between two electrodes. This structure is actually due to the difficulty in getting electrons out of the cathode to support the discharge. These electrons are obtained by having a large enough potential drop near the cathode so that the positive ions may strike it hard enough to product secondary electrons. If one substitutes a hot cathode to produce a copious quantity of electrons, the banded structure will be radially changed. Hence the banding is not a pure property of the discharge, but is a complication brought on by the presence of electrodes.

Geothermal gradient map of the United States published by the Hot Dry Rock (HDR) Geothermal Program of the Department of Energy, showing geothermal gradient contours and color-coded based on temperature. The map also contains information about how the information for the map was compiled.

The transmissions of neutrons through spherical shells of normal uranium, oralloy, and Pu239 are reported. One group of measurements was made using a pure fission neutron source produced by thermal neutrons. The other group of measurements was made using monoenergetic neutrons. From both groups of measurements, the inelastic scattering cross sections have been determined according to methods developed in Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Report LA-1429 (Jaunary 1955).

Four uranium alloys containing nominally 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 w/o molybdenum were investigated with respect to their response to hardening by heat treatment. The several alloys were heated at elevated temperatures to secure solid solution, then quenched and reheated at lower temperatures to obtain hardening. The procedure followed the well known industrial practice of solution treatment and precipitation hardening. The results showed that all the alloys could be hardened by a suitable heat treatment. No specific temperatures are recommended; however, within the limits of the investigations, a solution treatment at 850 degree C followed by a water quench and reheat at 450 degree C gave a considerable increase in hardness. The time at temperature to secure maximum hardness would need to be determined as a function of mass and section shape. It is presumed that other mechanical properties of the alloys would be influence by heat treatment in a similar manner corresponding tot he effect upon hardness.

This report records two samples of Xe-135 that have been isolated with activities sufficient for the measurement of the cross section of Xe by the velocity spectrometer technique.

Abstract: "The kinematics of elastic scattering, inelastic scattering, and the two body reaction problem is developed in the relativistic limit and exact expressions obtained for the energies, angles, and solid-angle transformations involved. The results are specialized for zero rest mass of one or more of the particles involved. An outline for the coding of the problem on the I.B.M. Electronic Data Processing Machine, Type 701 is presented."

The following report calculates how many neutrons are produced by the O-16([alpha]-n) reaction in a thin and uniform polonium oxide layer.

The opacity and thermodynamic properties of air at temperatures above 10 e.v. and densities below normal have been calculated under the guidance of H. Mayer in accordance with the prescription given in AECD 1870 (LA-647). Corresponding to given densities and temperatures, self-consistent distributions of electrons in bound states and their eigen energies are determined. With this information we compute the thermodynamic properties of air and the frequency-dependent absorption coefficients. Finally the opacity--a weighted average of the latter--is found

Measurements have been at the Pajarito remote control laboratory to determine the effect of change of shape on system reactivity for oralloy cylinders. Systems tested include cylindrical configurations with various height-to-diameter ratios ranging from slabs to rods. Each system reactivity is referred to that of a sphere in the same tamper. Reactivity tests were made on bare (untamped) Oy configurations, as well as on systems In tuballoy tampers 1.12,1.87,and 8.0 thick. The amount of reactivity change associated with a particular cylinder height-to-diameter ratio is feud to be a function of tamper thickness, and is greatest for very thin tampers.

The following report presents a discussion of the method for hydrodynamic problems, together with some new considerations that have arisen concerning the method.

Am III and Pu III have been recovered on a plant scale by extraction with tributyl phosphate from slag and crucible and other recovery solutions. Process losses were 0.03% Am and 0.01% Pu. The product stream contained 0.08 gram Am per liter and 0.15 gram Pu per liter. The final solution cleanup to allow discard (total alpha activity equivalent to less than 10(-4) gram Pu per liter) was accomplished by tributyl phosphate extraction of Pu III under conditions of low acidity and high nitrate.

The pressure and temperature cycles developed during the bomb reduction of uranium tetrafluoride by calcium have been determined. Data for the 250, 500, and 1000 gram scale reductions are given, and the apparatus used is described.

This investigation was begun as a result of a mass spectrometric measurement of two samples of tritium which had been stored for several months in Pyrex glass bulbs using stopcocks. The first of these was originally supposed to be of extremely high isotopic and chemical purity. What was observed at this time was 1.45 H had accumulated, and that tritiated methane, CT4, was also present to the extent of 0.18%. A consistent attempt had been made in this sample to protect the gas from contact with the grease by covering the stopcock with mercury. the second sample was a composite of T2 samples of various degrees of enrichment with an isotopic analysis of 92% T. No protection had been attempted during its storage, and 0.86% CT4 to be present.

From abstract: During July-August 1976, water and sediments were collected for the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory from streams and lakes over an area of -100 000 km2 around Kotzebue, Alaska. The sampling was by helicopter, as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) sponsored by the US ERDA. It was done according to rigorous, but simple, written procedures, at a nominal density of one location per 23 km 2, and included the 1400- to 1900-km2 area proposed for the Cape Krusenstern National Monument. All the samples would normally have been analyzed for uranium and presented in a regular HSSR report. However, due to an interest in the proposed Monument area, the Anchorage office of the Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines, provided funds for multielement analyses on the sediments taken from there. Consequently, in addition to the routine field data and uranium determinations for waters and/or sediments from 89 locations sampled over the proposed Cape Krusenstern Monument, the results of analyses of 44 additional elements in 77 of the sediments from there are provided. Sample locations are shown on a 1:250 000-scale plate. The data and descriptions of the methods used are in appendices.

The stability of a linear pinch is investigated by means of the "6W" formalism of E. A. Frieman. It turns out that when attention is confined to the surface layers of the plasma, convenient stability criteria can be deduced for very general cylindrically symmetric distributions of magnetic field and plasma.

Due to laboratory interest in devices capable of production of high current with short rise times in gaseous discharges (plasmas), an experimental machine has been built and tested to obtain data applicable to the design of a high gradient magnetic induction machine. This machine consists of a condenser type energy storage bank air core coupled to a toroid in which the plasma is produced. It has been used to determine circuit parameters and the effect of these parameters on the plasma.