The ORR operated at an average power level of 29.9 Mw for 82.8 percent of the time during January, February, and March of 1976. Two fuel elements were declared spent (58.8 percent average burnup) during the quarter, while twenty-eight new elements were placed in service. Four shim-rod elements were retired from service at an average burnup of 64.4 percent. The reactor was shutdown on nine occasions, one of which was unscheduled. Two end-of-cycle shutdowns accounted for 92.1 percent of the total downtime. The remaining downtime was used principally for refueling and experiment work. Maintenance activities, both mechanical and instrument, were essentially routine in nature. Special tests or measurements completed during the quarter were three calorimeter gamma heating runs made in CP-E5 during the end of Cycle 129 shutdown.

The ORR operated at an average power level of 29.8 Mw for 87.2 percent of the time during July, August, and September of 1975. Twenty-eight fuel elements were declared spent (51.5 percent average burnup) during the quarter, while forty-two new elements were placed in service. Two shim-rod elements were retired from service at an average burnup of 65.5 percent. The reactor was shut down on eight occasions, one of which was unscheduled. One end-of-cycle shutdown accounted for 49.6 percent of the total downtime. A special shutdown to repair a water leak accounted for 40.6 percent of the total downtime. The remaining downtime was used principally for refueling, experiment work, and maintenance. Maintenance activities, both mechanical and instrument, were essentially routine in nature. All six shim rods were calibrated on August 18, 1975.

The ORR operated at an average power level of 29.9 Mw for 84.9 percent of the time during October, November, and December of 1975. Eleven fuel elements were declared spent (52.5 percent average burnup) during the quarter, while twenty-nine new elements were placed in service. Four shim-rod elements were retired from service at an average burnup of 63 percent. The reactor was shut down on eight occasions, all of which were scheduled. Two end-of-cycle shutdowns accounted for 80.7 percent of the total downtime. The remaining downtime was used principally for refueling and experiment work. Maintenance activities, both mechanical and instrument, were essentially routine in nature. Special tests or measurements during the quarter included: (1) Flux mapping for core No. 129A; (2) Determination of minimum fuel content in ORR fuel elements prior to declaring the element spent; (3) Reactor vessel, ultrasonic test, and (4) Visual inspection of ORR primary pump.

Current activities include providing CRBRP design information based on tests of the IVHM Inflatable Seal to CRBRP conditions, testing the CRBRP dip seal configuration to determine its performance characteristics, and delineating the effects of sodium and radiation environments on the efficiencies of various seal materials. The primary direction of the general seal effort is to develop advanced seal geometries and materials to overcome deficiencies of commercially available seals, permeation rate, compression set, and high temperature operation, which restrict their use in LMFBR applications.

Current activities include providing CRBRP design information based on tests of the IVHM Inflatable Seal to CRBRP conditions, testing the CRBRP dip seal configuration to determine its performance characteristics, and delineating the effects of sodium and radiation environments on the efficiencies of various seal materials.

An internally, consistent set of density values is supplied for vapor-saturated, aqueous calcium chloride solutions from 0/sup 0/ to 300/sup 0/C based on currently available experimental data. The tabulated density data were obtained from a computer regression of the P-V-T-X data from 37 references. (MHR)

An internally consistent set of density values is supplied for vapor-saturated, aqueous potassium chloride solutions from 0/sup 0/ to 400/sup 0/C based on currently available experimental data. The tabulated density values were obtained from a computer regression of the P-V-T-X data from 100 references. (MHR)

An internally consistent set of density values is supplied for vapor-saturated, aqueous sodium sulfate solutions from 0/sup 0/ to 325/sup 0/ based on currently available experimental data. The tabulated density data were obtained from a computer regression of the P-V-T-X data from 35 references. (MHR)

Current interest in geothermal potential of thermal-spring areas in the Appalachians makes all data on thermal springs and wells in these areas valuable. Presented here without interpretive comment are maps showing selected springs and wells and tables of physical and chemical data pertaining to these wells and springs. The chemical tables show compositions of gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, methane, carbon dioxide, and helium), isotope contents (tritium, carbon (13), and oxygen (18)), trace and minor element chemical data, and the usual complete chemical data.

The concept of Channel Theory is used to locate spatial regions which are important in contributing to a shielding response. The method is analogous to the channel theory method that was developed for ascertaining important energy channels in cross-section analysis. The mathematical basis for the theory is shown to be the generalized reciprocity relation, and sample problems are given to exhibit and verify the properties which are predicted by the mathematical equations. Finally, a practical example is cited from the FFTF shielding analysis performed at Oak Ridge, in which a perspective plot of channel theory results was found useful in locating streaming paths around the reactor cavity shield.

AMP is a FORTRAN IV program written to handle energy-group structured activity factors such as sources, conversion factors, and response functions, as used by ANISN, DOT III, and other nuclear reactor and shielding codes. Activities may be retrieved from ANISN-type cross-section and activity sets found on cards and tapes, and from tabular-type sets on cards. They may be altered by change of group structure, multiplication by a constant, or multiplication by delta E (the group-energy interval), and then output to ANISN-type cards or tape and tabular-type cards. A full edit of input and output activities is always printed by group and activity number.

This study reviews and assesses the technology of oil spill spreading, retention and cleanup and proposes research needs in these areas. Sources of oil spills are analyzed and the difficulty of gathering meaningful statistics is discussed. Barrier technology is reviewed and problem areas analyzed. Natural and forced biodegradation and natural and chemical dispersion of oil spills are considered. Research recommendations are categorized under the following two headings (1) Preventive techniques and (2) Containment, Cleanup and Dispersion.

The FLAC code (Fourier Laser Amplifier Code) was used to simulate the CYCLOPS laser system up to the third B-module and to calculate the maximum ripple gain spectrum. The model of this portion of CYCLOPS consists of 33 segments that correspond to 20 optical elements (simulation of the cell requires 2 segments and 12 external air spaces). (MHR)

The LASNEX code has been upgraded to include optical ray tracing of laser light through the dynamically changing Lagrangian hydrodynamic mesh. Calculations have been carried out to simulate the absorption of laser light by a two-dimensional breakdown plasma initiated by a vaporizing dust particle.

Commercial refractories of alumina, magnesia, zirconia, and silica, as well as samples of graphite, thoria, beryllia, boron carbide, and quartz, were tested for compatibility with high-temperature and boiling sodium. Samples were exposed either to static sodium at 850/sup 0/C for five hours or to boiling sodium for about an hour. Graphite, thoria, beryllia, boron carbide, and refractories with high alumina or magnesia contents, but with low silica and chromic oxide contents, were found to be compatible with high-temperature and boiling sodium. Sample compatibility with sodium decreased with an increase in the silica content of the sample. Samples with large silica content failed completely. Bricks with high zirconia content did not withstand exposure to boiling sodium, but high-fired zirconia crucibles appeared to be in good condition after sodium exposure. Except for the results with the high-zirconia bricks, the results of the ANL experiments with refractory bricks are in good agreement with those obtained in sodium compatibility experiments done at Westinghouse Advanced Reactors Division. 36 Figs.

A review on nucleolytic enzymes is expected to appear this month. Three abstracts were sent, two to Federation and one to the International Society on Toxicology. Further improvements were made in the method of preparation of venom exonuclease (phosphodiesterase). Other enzymes in venom hydrolyzing phosphate bonds were also partially purified. The major progress was made in the understanding of action of mung bean nuclease. Two papers not mentioned in publications were submitted to the Journal of Biological Chemistry and will be included in next year's report. The enzyme protein was characterized and the mechanism of action on native DNA was studied. Conditions were found to produce large (about 1 million dalton) duplex fragments from native T/sub 7/ DNA. Under different conditions, these fragments are degraded from their ends with the production of mono- to trinucleotides.

The effects of non-diagonal terms in the neutral current of an SU(2) x U(1) gauge six-quark model with slow rescaling are examined. The model reproduces the experimental charged current data with appropriate choice of heavy quark masses. The experimental neutral current data requires at least five quarks to explain it. In our context, the predictions for various heavy quark masses and quark mixings differ most for energies in the range 0 to 50 GeV. The various quantities are also calculated for proton and neutron targets.