This seventh Annual Report is a summary of some of the progress in scientific and engineering research and development carried on at Argonne National Laboratory during 1961. As is customary in this series, only those portions of the total program that have reached such a stage that they may be of general interest are recorded. Thus, a comparison with the Annual Reports for 1959 (ANL-6125) and for 1960 (ANL-6275) will reveal the description of a generally different set of scientific activities. A more detailed presentation of any work covered in this report or of the many ANL projects not mentioned may be obtained by perusing the various progress and topical reports issued by the Laboratory during 1961. A list of the publications in the scientific journals during 1961 by Argonne personnel has been given as an Appendix.

9 : : 7 : 7 9 : 5 5 ? 5 9 G -- 8 ; 8 ; = -activity levels of the melt-refining process for EBR-II core fuel was completed. An experiment was also completed on the evolution of fission- product krypton and xenon from an irradiated fuel pim as it was heat to a temperature above the melting point. In tests of alternate materials for use in a meltrefining furnace, a fibrous potassium titanate grain retainer was found to be a very effective heat insulator, but to have less strength than nigid Fibenfrax retainers. The skull remaining in the zirconia crucible after a meltrefining operation must be processed to recover, as partially purified metal, the fissionable material for return to the fuel cycle. Several essentially quantitative reductions of uranium dioxide and skull oxides were achieved in times of less than 8 hr at 800 deg C in dilute magnesium-zinc solutions and in magnesium containing a small percentage (0.5 to 2) of sodium as a wetting agent. Data and equations for solubilities of other elements in liquid cadmium are included. The partition coefficients of a numbsr of representative fissile and fission product elements between the two immiscible liquids, …

The use and operation of the Van de Graaff generator are summarized for the period from January 1 to June 30, 1960. Molecular beam study final results are given for Mn/sup 56/, and progress on the new atomic-beam machine is reported to date. A preliminary investigation was made of the neutron total cross section of cobalt. Results are presented. The decomposition of trichlorobromomethane by the isomeric transition of 4.4-hr Br/sup 80m/ and to 1000 deg F. /sup -/, decay of 35.9-hr Br/sup 82/ was studied. The fragmnentation patterns initiated by the two nuclear transitions differ markedly, the one caused by the isomeric transition was dominated by spectra of multiply-charged atomic species, whereas the pattern due to Br/sup 82/ was entirely made up of singlycharged products. An investigition of nondiagonal matrix elements arising in a shell-model treatment of a deformed nucleus showed that their neglect in determining the degree of deformation does not lead to serious error. A previous statement, in a study of collective effects and the shell model, about K = 0 bands in odd-odd nuclei is corrected. The effect of residual interactions is calculated, and the result is applied to Ho/sup 166/. (For preceding period see ANL-6190.) (W.D.M.)

Report issued by the Argonne National Laboratory discussing a summary of projects conducted with the Idaho Division. Descriptions of each project are presented. This report includes tables, and illustrations.

Report issued by the Argonne national Laboratory discussing centrifugal casting of thin uranium plates. The applicability of the centrifugal casting technique to the production of multiple castings of fuel pins of small diameter and of thin fuel plates was investigated. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.

Report containing "[a] description (...) of the design of a prototype "packaged" nuclear power plant. The purpose of the plant is to alleviate fuel oil logistics and storage problems posed by remote auxiliary DEW Line radar stations north of the Arctic Circle. The ALPR (redesignated SL-1) is a 3 Mwt, heterogeneous, highly enriched uranium- fueled, natural-circulation boiling water reactor, cooled and moderated with light water. Steam at 300 psig, dry and saturated (421 deg F) is passed directly from the reactor to a conventional turbine-generator to produce electric power (300 kw nominal) and space-heating (400 kw) requirements consistent with rigid mechanical and structural specifications prescribed by the military, and dictated by the extreme geophysics prevailing at the ultimate site. The over-all design criteria emphasize: simplicity and reliability of operation and maintenance, with minimum supervision; minimum on-site construction; maximum use of standard components; limited water supply; utilization of local gravel for biological shielding; transportability by air lift; and nominal 3-year fuel operating lifetime per core loading." (p. 15)

Report describing the zero-power experiments on the Argonne Low Power Reactor. It is a prototype of a natural-circulation, boiling-water-reactor nuclear power plant designed to supply the electrical power and space heat requirements of a proposed Auxiliary DEW Line radar station.

From Introduction: "Information has been accumulated about the property changes produced, but there are essentially no reliable quantitative data correlating property changes with the magnitude and energy distribution of the neutron fluxes responsible for the changes. The design of the Basic Radiation Effects Reactor (BRER) presented herein stems from the two main requirements: 1. a fairly high-level, high-energy neutron flux with minimal thermal neutron and gamma-ray background is desired; 2. the peak of the neutron-energy spectrum should be variable within the approximate range from 10 to 1000 kev."

From Summary: "The work described in this report is the application of this process to the recovery of uranium from highly enriched, low uranium-zirconium alloy plate-type fuels."

Report concerning the corrosion of several ternary zirconium alloys using distilled water at 350 degrees Celsius or ssteam heated to 540 degrees Celsius and 600 psi.

Report documenting the fast zero power reactor experiment (ZPRG-III). This includes a description of the experiment and the reactor, hazards, and accidents.

From Abstract: "The equipment described in this paper is based on the technique developed by McSkimin. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the system. The oscilloscope presentation with no specimen present appears as shown in Figure 2a. At discrete frequencies, the pattern appears as shown in Figure 2b."

From Abstract: "This report describes a counting system capable of processing input pulses at an average rate in excess of 3 x 10 to the fifth power counts per second with less than 10 percent counting loss due to instrumental dead time."

Report containing zero power (<1 kw) Dry Critical Experiments that were "to be conducted in the EBR-II Reactor prior to filling the Primary System with sodium coolant" (p. 7.) The two primary objectives of these experiments were to determine how well the system performed without sodium coolant and to "determine and/or verify certain operational data to permit modification or improvement of the system (neutron shield, instrumentation, etc.) prior to the introduction of sodium into the system" (p. 7.)

Report describing the design and usage of the BORAX V nuclear reactor, its surrounding facility, systems, experimental programs, and possible hazards.

Report estimating the merits of a variety of nuclear reactor concepts for use as external superheaters to be added on to a steam-producing nuclear power plant.

From Introduction: "This is a status report on the interim design and development for an advanced research reactor (AARR) that will produce a maximum thermal neutron flux of 5 x 10 to the fifteenth power neutrons/ (cm2) (sec). As a result, this report also contains sections covering shielding, plant layout, fuel charging, maintenance, and auxiliary facilities."

From Abstract: "The applicability of the centrifugal casting technique to the production of multiple castings of fuel pins of small diameter and of thin fuel plates was investigated."