Report discussing the progress of research projects at Battelle Memorial Institute relating to civilian applications during August 1956.

From abstract: "The stability constants of curium and americium alpha hydroxyisobutyrate complexes were determined by means of ion exchange equilibrium measurements on Dowex-50 four percent resin in the ammonium form."

Abstract: "A particularly conventional modified form of Maxwell distribution is chosen. The modified expressions for (a) the energy transfer from the ions to the electrons in a plasma and (b) the brehmestrahlung from the electrons are calculated. Using the expressions some possible steady-state conditions for the ion and electron gases are derived and compared with those for the usual Maxwell distributions."

Abstract: "The quantities of interest in a confined plasma include the electric and magnetic fields, current density, diffusion velocity, temperature, pressure, and particle density. Equations governing the distribution of these seven variables are given in this report and special cases of a one-dimensional steady-state plasma are examined in detail. The solutions are given in graphical form."

Report discussing the heating of a plasma which passes through a series of magnetic pumping cells by applying the second-order theory of transit-time heating developed by Berger and Newcomb. From abstract: "Transit-time magnetic pumping in single-transit systems seems to be a feasible method of increasing plasma energy by amounts of the order of a factor of 10."

Report discussing the survey work done at the Battelle Memorial Institute with the objective to successfully build a gas-cooled reactor.

This bibliography contains 145 references on the technology and apparatus used in the purification of argon, helium and xenon, and on the analysis for water, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, in the purification process. The references are arranged in four classifications: general, argon, helium, and xenon. Within each classification, the references are arranged in chronological order.

From introduction: "The work described here was part of an integrated investigation of the fundamental properties of uranium oxides done for the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. Electrical measurements were employed to characterize the oxides produced by various processes from different starting materials. The basic objective of the program was to determine those factors which affect the sintering characteristics of uranium dioxide."

Fractional absorption of gamma photons from a source by uranium or plutonium in solution is measured to determine concentration of these elements.

The objective of this report is to analyze the basic engineering problems involved in the design of a pressurized demonatration reactor to be moderated and cooled with heavy water. Two fundamental concepts of this reactor, here referred to as the HWER, are as follows: (1) a tank-type reactor, in which the moderator pressure is maintained at or near atmospheric conditions, and (2) a pressurized vessel-type reactor in which the moderator pressure is maintained at 1000 to 1300 psi. The fuel and primary coolant channels in either case will be designed for an internal pressure pressure of 1000 to 13000 psi.

A exploratory study was made of a polarographic technique in which an alternating sine or square-wave potential is superimposed upon the applied d.c. potential of the polarographic scan. Recording of the a.c. component of the polarographic current results in derivative-type waves. It was shown that the technique yields greater sensitivity and greater selectivity than normal polarographic technique.

A series of diffusion length measurements were carried out on graphite stacks of various constructions in an attempt to resolve the discrepancies between the graphite diffusion lengths measured in the Hanford reactors and that value measured in the Hanford Standard Pile. It was found that the diffusion length of the graphite in the Hanford reactors is in good agreement with the value for the Hanford Standard Pile when corrections are made for the absorption and scattering of neutrons by the aluminum process tubes, and for neutrons streaming in the channels of the reactors.

The creep problems associated with zircaloy-2 process tubes and the factors affecting the creep of these tubes were discussed in detail. Emphasis was placed on the determination of the tube wall thickness for an SPR tube, whose minimum thickness is limited by creep considerations. It was concluded that, at the present time, there is not enough information available to design zircaloy-2 process tubes on a realistic basis. Various experiments were suggested to supplement the creep rate testing program being pursued by Battelle Memorial Institute.

A method is described whereby many types of flaws lying close to the surface of a metal can be ultrasonically detected, regardless of the time duration of the interrogating pulses. Lamb waves are established in the metal between a flaw and the surface by an ultrasonic beam which impinges at the proper angle of incidence. A suitably positioned receiver transducer picks up the waves to reveal the flaw. In this method the usually troublesome surface echo is eliminated from the receiver by an acoustic barrier, making it well suited for routine and automatic testing. Results of applying the technique to several testing problems are discussed.

This paper is a preliminary report of experiments being carried out on the compaction of UO₂ powders by swaging within a restraining tube. Various types of UO₂ have been tried with resulting apparent densities as great as 9.89 grams per cubic centimeter.

Abstract: "Uranium monocarbide-Zircaloy II alloy cermets were developed and tested for chemical and physical properties. It was determined that pure uranium monocarbide can be prepared by vacuum are melting techniques. Following melting, the combination, hot pressing, and corrosion behavior of dense monocarbide has been studied. The preparation of uranium monocarbide-Zircaloy II cermet bodies was investigated by means of hot pressing, cold pressing and sintering, warm pressing, extrusion, and hot rolling. The corrosion resistance of the cermets was related to such variables as composition, preparation technique, and powder size. 01 per cent uranium monocarbide, 70 per cent zircaloy II cermets withstood corrosion tests in 680 F water. Cermets having above 30 weight per cent uranium monocarbide were not corrosion resistant."

Abstract: "[alpha]-Hydroxy -[beta], [beta]-dinitropropionic and -butyric acids were prepared by condensation of dinitromethane and 1, 1-dinitroethane with glyoxylic acid. Some of their chemical and physical properties are described in this report."

Progress report of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project providing updates on various projects, experiments, and other work. This report includes summaries of project activities in: aircraft reactor test design, ART physics, ART instruments and controls, component development and testing, procurement and construction, ART, ETU, and in-pile loop operations, phase equilibrium studies, chemical reactions in molten salts, physical properties of molten materials, production of fuels, compatibility of materials at high temperatures, chemistry, analytical chemistry, metallurgy, dynamic corrosion studies, general corrosion studies, fabrication research, welding and brazing investigations, mechanical properties studies, ceramic research, nondestructive testing studies, heat transfer and physical properties, radiation damage, fuel recovery and reprocessing, critical experiments.

This report presents a summary of certain physical properties that have been determined experimentally on the fluoride mixture that have been formulated at ORNL (Rers. 1, 2). These properties include the density, enthalpy, heat capacity, heat of fusion, thermal conductivity, viscosity, Prandtl number, electrical conductivity and surface tension. In addition to the experimental data, values have been predicted for the heat capacity and density of the other mixtures from the correlations of these properties. Estimates of the viscosity have also been made for a number of the mixtures on which no experimental data were available.

The ORNL Graphite Reactor operated very well during 1955. The downtime was low, only 8.6%. The fuel in the bonded slugs did not perform as well in 1955 as in 1954. Much of the trouble was undoubtedly due to growth of slugs which were not beta-transformed. It is known that some slugs had grown over 1/2 in. The automatic central system installed in 1954 continued to operate satisfactorily. The cooling system gave minor trouble when one of the 900-hp fan meters had to be replaced because of shorts in the rotor. The high radiation in the canal was the largest source of trouble. Approximately 55 tons of slugs discharged from the reactor in 1952 was sent to the Metal Recovery Plant. Enough slugs had raptured, due to their long exposure in the canal and reactor, to badly contaminate of water. Most of the contamination was removed by the end of the year, but the radioactivity which had soaked into the canal wells was enough to give high radiation fields. A solution to this problem was being sought at the end of the year. A study is under way on the possibility of increasing the flux of the ORNL Graphite Reactor …

Progress report of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project providing updates on various projects, experiments, and other work. This report includes summaries of project activities in: aircraft reactor test design, ART physics, ART instruments and controls, component development and testing, procurement and construction, ART, ETU, and in-pile loop operations, phase equilibrium studies, chemical reactions in molten salts, physical properties of molten materials, production of fuels, compatibility of materials at high temperatures, chemistry, analytical chemistry, metallurgy, dynamic corrosion studies, general corrosion studies, fabrication research, welding and brazing investigations, mechanical properties studies, ceramic research, nondestructive testing studies, heat transfer and physical properties, radiation damage, fuel recovery and reprocessing, critical experiments.