The multiplication constant and optimal concentration of a slurry pile is recalculated on the basis of Mitchell's recent experiments on resonance absorption. The smallest chain reacting unit contains 45 to 55 m3 of D2O.

Some methods for calculating the k requirements of various shaped piles are indicated, with particular reference to the shape of the tank in the homogeneous plant.

Calculations were made to determine the temperature at various points of a thick disc and cap, on the assumptions that the heat production rate is uniform throughout the slug and that the slug is in perfect thermal contact with the cap. Results obtained by different methods of computation are compared with each other and with results obtained by Drew on the Paschkis electrical network computer at Columbia University.

An attempt is made to estimate the influence of operation upon the mechanical properties of tubealloy. It is to be emphasized that the work is highly speculative, being base upon a set of judicious assumptions regarding the transport material within the metal and should not be used as a substitute for a set of well-planned experiments. The two principal effects considered are the hardening which results from the atomic displacement produced by the fission fragments and the changes in mechanical properties arising from the presence of the fission products. The principal conclusion to be drawn is that the disruption of the metal which accompanies operation takes place at at sufficiently high rate that it could readily cause serious changes in the mechanical properties of the slups. the reversal of the disruption resulting from thermal effects probably is sufficiently high to prevent serious embrittlement as a consequence of displacement through most of the volume of the slug if not at the surface. On the other hand, the migration of atoms also appears to be sufficiently high that the rare gas products may have time to diffuse to cracks and produce embrittlement.

The transition region between two parts of a pile which have different compositions is investigated. In the case where the moderator is the same in both parts of the pile, it is found that the diffusion constant times thermal neutron density plus diffusion constant times fast neutron density satisfied the use pile equations everywhere, right to the boundary. More complicated formulae apply in a more general case.

Stresses set up by an insulating strip in the bond are estimated and found to be small compared to those normally present without the defect.

Measurements made in a uranium cylinder result in a mean value of 1.55 cm. for the diffusion length L for distances of 1 to 4 cm. from the base of the cylinder. Calculations give a value which agrees with the experimental result and show further that L increases from 1.40 to 1.63 cm. as the neutrons diffuse a distance of 5 cm. into the uranium.

Warping of a rod by a variation in heat transfer coefficient around the periphery is considered. Estimates for some simple cases are given, and a more precise numerical calculation is carried out in ne instance.

Some situations which give rise to a hot ring around the slug near the end are considered; namely rounded slug ends in the long cartridge design, and the Wilkins effect in the current unbonded short slug design.

Various experimenters have shown (H.H. Gersman U.S. Patent 2,335,590, Nov. 30, 1943; Aluminum Co. of America, various technical papers; also CT-482) that when a billet is extruded by proper technique into a rod (or tube by a floating mandril) that flow of material is streamline and and the extruded article is essentially a space replica of the billet, with linearly distorted coordinates. Advantage is taken of this fact in the manufacture of alclad tubing in which a billet containing an inner core of one alloy with the outer part of another alloy cast around it is extruded together into an integral tube, e.g., to combine high corrosion resistance with high strength. The following experiments were carried out because of the desirability of obtaining a control rod which can be water cooled (or immersed in P9) and which contains boron. For some pile structures it may be desirable to have the major portion of the energy released by the neutron absorption of the control rod be spend in the rod itself by the nuclear reactions [formula] rather than in the surrounding media as is the case when absorption of neutrons is by cadmium according to the reaction [formula]. In the later …

In making various experimental heat studies a power producing metal slug is simulated by a slug with a graphite rod electrode of 3/8" diameter inserted lengthwise through it. There is a helium filled annular space between the graphite and the inner surface of the slug cylinder. Radiant heat passes from the electrode to the metal; with proper adjustment of the electrode current the slug in the steady state will therefor "produce" the same amount of energy from its exterior surface as it would under operating conditions. The question arises, however, as to how uniform the electrode temperature is along its length. And also, in some cases one end of the electrode is embedded in the slug metal; it is then desirable to know how much heat flows by conduction from the electrode into the slug.

ABSTRACT. When solutions of high specific alpha activity are to be assayed for product, it is often difficult to obtain reproducible results by diluting the solution sufficiently to remove a small volume from which a sample can be prepared and counted at 52% geometry. In order to assay such a solution, most reproducible results have been obtained with minimum effort in sample preparation by making use of low geometry chambers. Two types of low geometry chambers are described: 1) The air-screen type which reduces the geometry simply by placing screens of various transparencies above the sample; and 2) The vacuum low geometry chamber which accomplishes geometry reduction by increasing the distance between sample and collecting electrode thus decreasing the solid angle subtended by the sample and aperture through which the particles pass into the ionization chamber. This type chamber was developed concurrently by this group and the instrument group of Chemistry Section C-I at the Metallurgical Laboratory. Because the geometry of the air-screen type chamber is quite critical to sample spreading and be- cause 12 mm sample plates are required, it has found very little use. On the other hand, the vacuum chamber, because it is noncritical to sample spreading …

Abstract. Recently (CP-1989) it has been shown that the neutron density, and thus the heat production, at the end of a slug with an A1 cap may be appreciably higher than that at the middle of the slag. A re-examination of earlier temperature calculations is made in light of this effect.

An approximate calculation is made of the variations of the flexibility of a long cartridge with the length of the slug used, assuming that the jacket slides without friction.

Abstract. A particle ionization chamber of sensitivity sufficient to detect a source of one neutron per second has been used to measure the neutron yield from a thick target of sulfur upon bombardment with polonium alpha particles. The high-geometry boron trifluoride chamber used had an efficiency of 1.9 percent for fission neutrons. The neutron yield from a thick target of sulfur was measured by this instrument and found to be .0035 +- .0013 neutrons per million incident polonium alpha particles.

Maximum curvatures and forces set up in taking a rod in a tube are considered.

Abstract. Given the maximum intrinsic curvature of a rod, the maximum force required to confine it between parallel rigid walls is computed.

Abstract. Steady-state temperatures were measured in an electrically heated brass cylinder which was water cooled in a four-ribbed Al tube. Thermal transfer coefficients h were calculated from the measured temperatures. Curves of h values are presented for the regions of high and low ribs. the h curve is found to show a much sharper break in the region of high rib than in a low rib region. There is some evidence that h decreases linearly with annular thickness in the range considered. The low rib is found to exert a much greater effect than the high rib in decreasing the h value at points distant from the rib.

Abstract. The thermal conductivity of uranium as a function of temperature is measured by comparing its conductivity with that of a sample of brass. An absolute measurement is then made of the conductivity of the brass sample. The thermal conductivities as a function of temperature of two samples of extruded uranium rod are given.

The problem of lining a hollow aluminum sphere, 10 inches i.d., with lunes of heavy metal foil, was assigned to this group by Dr. E. Creutz. The work was carried out under the direct supervision of Dr. D.H. Gurinsky. the problem was divided naturally into tow parts: first, forming fitting the lunes, and second, cementing hem to the inside of the sphere.

Prior to operating a chain reacting, graphite moderated, water cooled uranium pile at Hanford, the corrosive action of water on uranium was studied. It was necessary to enclose the uranium cylinders in Al jackets. Preliminary data were available which indicated Al jacket corrosion might be influenced by the water temperature. Therefore, in order to specify safe operating conditions, it was desirable to know the temperature at any position on the Al jacket of a slug in the tube. Because of the experimental difficulties encountered in the measurement of the correct surface temperature, the problem has been attacked primarily from a mathematical standpoint. Mathematical formulae have been developed for most of the proposed Hanford designs. The purpose of this report was to evaluate and summarize the theoretical and experimental information for calculation of Al jackets surface temperatures for the design now installed at Hanford. Also, the summarized results were to be put into a form suitable for use in routine calculations. As a result of this survey, the Al surface temperature for the Hanford tube and slug design may be calculated with 15 degrees C by employing routine methods and certain simple factors and equations contained in this report. The factors …

Abstract. The effect of the neutron flux on the relative importance of different fission product poisons is discussed. The general expression for the poising of a fission product is given with the various equations for special cases of interest. The formulae are applied to the problem of finding the poisoning due to fission products at the end of one day in a pile operating with a flux of 4 x 10(14) neutrons/cm(2)/soc. These results are summarized in the table on page 12. Appendix I contains a revised list of cross sections x yields for all stable isotopes. Such a list was first given by Wheeler in CP-889. Appendix II contains a list of radioactive fission products with half lives greater than one day with data about yields, parents, gaseous ancestors, and numbers of neutrons.