A report which investigated vacuum distilation, entrainer gas distillation, and entrainer gas plus bromine vapor distillation.

This technical report contains day by day experimental data reported in Engineer's Log Book, Electro-Chemistry Department, supporting Report No. EC-11 dated November 15, 1944, by W. L. Grube, Research Laboratories Division, General Motors Corporation.

From introductory paragraph: "In a slightly hypocritical water boiler the introduction of a single neutron may give rise to a fairly large burst of neutrons which dies out slowly. As was shown some time ago by Frankel and Nelson with the help of A. Horn the statistics of this multiplication process can be treated in a simple way for the hypothetical case that the number of neutrons produced per fission is two."

Abstract: "For defects between interior and coating, or between successive layers of coating, a simple, fairly accurate formula is established. The temperature rise at the edge of the defect is briefly discussed."

Technical report describing a gasometrical method for the determination of H2 in extruded U rods.

Abstract. A review of all work on uranium hydride published in the CC, CT, CN and CE reports to January 1, 1944, is presented. Some additional information not yet published has been included, so this report includes all data known from the above sources and at Ames to the above date. This report supersedes all previous report on uranium hydride coming out of the Ames laboratory.

Abstract: "Photographic plates have been used to measure the energy of neutrons from the fission of 25. The spectrum as inferred from the ranges of 850 protons recoiling in the forward direction shows a very wide maximum at ~1.5 Mev with an exponentially decreasing high energy tail which extends beyond 7 Mev. The minimum energy neutrons recorded were ~700 kv. If the spectrum is extrapolated to zero, one finds that this average neutron energy is about 1.85 Mev. The stopping power of the plates was calibrated by the use of monochromatic neutrons from the Li-7(pn) Be-7 reaction and the d-d reaction."

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.

Six structural materials (aluminum 2S, aluminum 72S, copper, iron, steel, lead and bismuth) were irradiated for about 100 kilowatt hours in the center of the Argonne pile. The alpha and gamma decays were then followed for 130 days on Geiger counters and are presented here graphically as number of rays per minute per gram per kilowatt hour vs. time of decay. A quantitative interpretation of the gamma-ray decay curves gave fair agreement with the chemical analysis of impurities found in the materials.

Technical report summarizing our knowledge of the chemical effects of ionizing radiation upon water and upon aqueous solutions of inorganic compounds. The types of radiation considered are beta rays, gamma and X rays, and heavy particles, notably neutrons, deuterons, alpha rays and fission recoils.

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.

The temperature coefficient of eta has been measured with the thermal column of the Argonne pile using uranium foils of different isotopic ratios. The temperature change was effected by filtering neutrons through silver. The measured fractional change per degree centigrade is [formula].

From introduction: "You will find enclosed the specifications for the freezing point method for determination of the amount of HF in UF₆. The specification for cleaning new shipping containers is also included."

Technical Report: A generalized review of the chemical problems and researches related principally to the heavy water homogeneous pile is presented herewith. The report covers researches performed principally by the Columbia Group who initiated the study. This report contains a chronological outline of the development, a discussion of some special topics whose significance is paramount in any slurry pile discussion, and finally an outline of important research problems remaining, roughly graded in order of their importance. No attempt has been made to be either complete or detailed in the discussion. The emphasis has been principally on furnishing a broad guide to those who may t some future date take up this work.

Introduction: Measurements of polonium content in solids are usually performed by dissolving the material and preparing a thin sample which can be measured with one of the available instruments. A measurement of the radiation emerging from the thick sample should be sufficient to evaluate the polonium content. For this reason a calculation has been performed and the results have been compared with those obtained by the thin sample method. Obviously this proposed method using thick samples would be faster.

Report discussing an experiment in which films of boron were deposited on glass and on metals by the thermal deposition of diborane at tempertatures between 500 and 600°C.

It was desired to determine a method of evaporating boron to form a rather pure uniform tenacious coat of specified thickness. These coats are needed as monitoring films for neutron intensities, particularly in steel ionization cylinders. The most satisfactory method of evaporating boron employed a graphite filament. A mixture of amorphous boron and Carbenoid A was painted onto the filament which was then heated by electrical resistance method to 2300 degree C at which temperature the boron evaporated. Opaque films with purities up to 98% boron or better could be deposited by this method. Much heat was liberated by the filament, and it was found necessary to cool the steel cylinders during evaporation to prevent alloying of boron with the steel. Cathodic deposition also proved satisfactory for producing high purity films; this method has the advantage that little or no heat is produced during the process, but requires much time. Other less efficacious methods of depositing lighter films of born were developed; these are included in the following discussion.

A good determination of the resonance absorption of uranium when admixed with various substances is necessary so that calculations can be made on the efficiency of homogeneous piles. The original experiments along these lines were undertaken by Creutz, Jupnik, and Snyder (C-116) and consisted of experiments on the resonance capture in pure U, UO2, U3O8, and one experiment on capture in a mixture of U3O8 and graphite. These experiments were done at the cyclotron in Princeton and consisted of determining the ratio of the twenty-three minute activity of uranium to an iodine monitor placed in some position with respect to the sample. By using spheres of different radii both the volume and the surface absorptions were measured. It was considered very desirable to extend these measurements to mixtures containing large amounts of graphite to uranium and also to investigate other substances containing hydrogen and deuterium. In addition it was decided to use both iodine and gallium monitors in the experiments. While the experiments were in progress, an absorption curve for uranium metal was made by Marshall using iodine and gallium detectors, which showed that there was a certain amount of overlapping of resonance levels of uranium and iodine.

Technical report covering (1) analysis of uranium bromide and chloride samples, (2) the ferric-nitrate method of analyzing uranium fluorides for fluorine, (3) spectrographic determination of boron, cadmium and manganese in magnesium metal, (4) service analyses. contributions to other problems, (5) attempted preparation of uranous oxyfluoride, and (6) corrections in previous reports.

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.

The present report is concerned with the electronic relay which, upon the reaching of a pre-determined value of ionization current in the associated chamber, actuates the safety rod release mechanism. The are here proposed two independent suggestions: (1) An improved trip circuit of such sensitivity and stability as to allow it to be actuated by a signal directly from the chamber without the necessity of interposing intermediate amplifier stages. The value of chamber current at which tripping occurs is stable to +- 0.4%. (2) A triple-wound relay to prevent shut-downs of the pile which would otherwise be caused by development of defects in the safety circuits.

From abstract: "Comparison of the activity produced by fast neutrons on lead with other activations corroborates the assignment of the 3.2 hr. activity as Pb209, and the assignment of the reaction as capture of fast neutrons. Two different measurements show that the neutrons captured have energies greater than 100 KEV. This average capture cross section for primary neutrons from 7.5 MEV deuterons on a thick target of beryllium is measured as 10[^]-27 ca[^]2."

The resonance absorption of a lump is described in terms of three components. Calculations of resonance absorption are carried out using the model for the resonance spectrum of uranium recently derived; calculations are also made with variations of this model which involve local fluctuations in level strengths. For metal and oxide lumps the agreement with observation is satisfactory. For dilute mixtures, whose resonance activation was measured by Mitchell, computed values fall 20% to 30% above measured ones.

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.