Report describing ongoing progress made at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Thermonuclear Division.

From Abstract: "This Monograph contains a consistent set of tables of thermodynamic properties of a large number of diatomic hydrides, deuterides, and tritides, for the ideal gas state at one atmosphere pressure. In addition to the thermodynamic properties of the molecular gases, the tables also include thermodynamic properties for chemical reactions involving the isotopic exchange of hydrogen."

"The magnetic properties of color centers were studied to obtain information regarding electron traps in insulators. Experiments designed to determine the equation governing the recovery of resonance after saturation were carried out. Relatively large samples were prepared by the method of additive coloration. KCl and RbCl crystals were used. Resonance saturation as a function of concentration was investigated and no significant dependence found. Measurements of the unsaturated susceptibility were made at liquid nitrogen and liquid helium temperatures. The bleaching of the F-center to form the B-band produced a different resonance. The equipment for observing the saturation and recovery of a portion of the resonance at 4 deg K is described. A theoretical examination was made of the interaction between the vibration of the ions around a negative-ion vacancy in an alkali halide and an electron trapped at that site. (M.C.G.)."

The crystal structures of the normal fatty acids of low molecular weight have been rather neglected until recently. Formic acid and acetic acid occur in the solid as hydrogen-bonded linear polymers, while several acids with eleven or more carbon atoms per molecule exist in the solid as dimers. The melting points of these acids, when plotted against number of carbon atoms, fall on two rather similar curves for even and odd numbers of carbon atoms, respectively, each with a minimum near five carbon atoms. These facts and hope of explaining the melting-point behavior led us to examine the structures of propionic and butyric acid crystals. These crystals have different structures, but both contain dimers.

The objective is to establish, from test results, the relationship between pressure loss and orifice configuration, mass rate, and steam quality, for a Fuel Cycle fuel assembly.

Report documenting "the determination of the thermal stability of various fission product oxides and nitrates, and an investigation of the gas phase decomposition of ruthenium tetroxide" (p. 4).

Report giving tables of the linear contraction relative to 293 ºK, (L293ºLT)/L293, and the linear expansion coefficient, dL/L293dT, of thirty elements, forty-five alloys, twenty-two other inorganic substances and twenty plastics and elastomers in the temperature range, 0 to 300 ºK.

Introduction: Sargent & Lundy was authorized on November 1, 1960, to make an economic and technical feasibility study of various reactor containment designs which are being utilized for several power plants now under construction.

It is possible to generate a relatively uniform, highly ionized plasma by passing a powerful discharge between electrodes so arranged that the current is forced to flow across an initial strong magnetic field. The magnetic induction due to the discharge causes a bending of the original field. If the discharge is operated with a low-impedance current source, the electric breakdown starts in a limited region near the current-input connections (minimum-inductance path) and propagates as a well-defined front in the manner of a hydromagnetic shock wave. In this paper we analyze the phenomenon as a one-dimensional single-fluid hydromagnetic problem, neglecting dissipation behind the wave.

"The problem of explaining the lack of radiative muon decay in an intermediate charged vector meson theory is discussed. A possible way of introducing the charged vector meson to the theory of weak interactions is outlined in which renormalization is retained. However, if this way is used, the anomalous magnetic moment is calculated to be large, which is in contradiction with expectation."

Abstract: The acid hydrolysis of [Pt(NH3)3Cl] has been shown to occur to a measurable extent. for this reaction: [APt(NH3)cCl]+ + H2O [chemical equilibrium symbol with rate constant k-1 above and k1 below] [Pt(NH3)c(H2O)]++ + Cl-, the equilibrium quotient was measured at 25 degree C and 35 degree C. At 25 degree C this quotient was 8.4 x 10-5 at [Mu] (ionic strength) = 0 and 25 x 10-5 at [mu] = .318 M. This variation is consistent with the expected changes in activity coefficients. [Delta]H for the reaction was found to be approximately 0. The rate constant, k1 was 2.3 x 10-5 sec.-1 at 25 degree C and it was nearly independent of ionic strength. The acid hydrolysis provides a mechanism for the exchange of the chloride ligand and Cl-. Exchange experiments with Cl36 showed that in addition to the acid hydrolysis, a process, first order in both, [Pt(NH3)3Cl] and Cl- with a rate constant of 6. 10-5 sec.-1M.-1 contributes to the exchange. The behavior of the entire series of chloro-ammines of platinum(II) toward acid hydrolysis and chloride exchange has been summarized, and a likely mechanism for the process has been discussed.

Abstract: A multigroup P1 approximation for hydrogen scattered neutrons has been developed and applied to the study of neutron flux distributions in titanium hydride and steel shield systems.

Sanderson & Porter have carried out a series of studies over the last four years which indicate that the pebble-bed reactor way be an attractive way to obtain low-cost power. At the request of the Atomic Energy Commission, two design studies have been carried out on this concept at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The first of these a preliminary design of a 10-Mw(t) reactor experiment, the PRRE, was initiated September 10, and a report on the study was issued November 1960. The second phase of the work, a conceptual design study of a 330-Mw (e) central station, was initiated November 1, and is the subject of this report.

This paper reports an extension of previous experimental work with Alfven waves. We consider hydromagnetic waves propagating in a cylindrical plasma in a uniform axial magnetic field. The copper tube is filled with highly ionized plasma by an electrically driven switch-on ionizing wave. After the tube is filled with plasma, a hydromagnetic wave is induced by a radial current flow from the small molybdenum electrode to the copper tube. The force produced by this radial current together with the static axial magnetic field displaces the plasma in the azimuthal direction, and a transverse wave is propagated in the axial direction, along magnetic field lines. The transient magnetic field associated with the wave is also in the azimuthal direction.

A research and development program aimed at devising processes for the economical recovery of the potentially valuable long-lived fission products from Purex waste has been under wat at Hanford for several years. When this work has begun, the concentrated waste was primarily a nitric acid solution (6 to 10 M HNO3) containing the fission products and relatively small concentrations of iron, sulfate, and other corrosion products. Flowsheets based on classical separation schemes and rather similar to processes used by the Isotopes Division at the AEC's Oak Ridge operation served to separate the desired fission products from one another and from the corrosion products (1,2,3).These separation schemes employed careful step-wise pH adjustment to precipitate first the iron and then to separate the desired fission products from one another. The flowsheets were demonstrated on a pilot-plant scale with full-level plant waste. However, since the earlier work was complete, plant operations have been modified....

"Graft polymers were made by Co60 mutual irradiation of mixtures of styrene and methyl acrylate in contact Teflon. These graft copolymers were analyzed by infra-red absorption and their composition determined. The composition of the graft copolymer formed from styrene and methyl acrylate was different from that which is predicted by the copolymer composition equation."

"The previously found maximum in the cosmic radiation energy spectrum is discussed, and the possibility that it arises in part from a misinterpretation of the data due to oversimplifying assumptions about the composition of the beam is examined. The importance that lack of recognition of isotopic composition may have is pointed out, and it is clear that this importance is strongly dependent on the measurements made and on the cut-off rigidity."

The objectives of this study have been to examine the problems of the pebble-bed reactor concept and to conceive a design of a facility for investigating the feasibility of this type of reactor. The design must provide for adequate leaktightness of the contaminated-gas system and adequate maintenance of contaminated components, the most vital feasibility questions of the concept.

Monthly report the progress and development of improved zirconium alloys for service in superheated water and steam. This report covers the period between April 1 to April 31, 1961 and was conducted by the United States and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).

"A method and equipment are described for determining the surface parameters of contact required for heat transfer calculations. In this method, the output of a surface analyzer for one surface is recorded on one channel of magnetic tape and the output for the other surface of the contact pair on a second channel. The tape is played back to an analog computer which then integrates the analog voltage to compute the void volume thickness, the number of contact points, and the ratio of metallic contact area to the total area."

Report regarding an airborne gamma-radioactivity survey that took place in the 2,800 square mile area around the Los Angeles region in California. Topics include the types of bedrock noted in the area as well as their levels of radioactivity.

Abstract: "The pressure drop and the time-temperature variation of the air test medium and heat storage material in a pebble-bed heater (designed for intermittent hypersonic wind-tunnel operation at test section Mach numbers of 4 to 11) are presented."

A carrier-free separation of hafnium from several hundred milligrams of rare earth oxides by anion exchange from saturated HC1 solution is given. The procedure is completed in 4-8 hours and is suitable for remote control work.

Graphical presentation of K-factors for eight isotherms, published data on the solid-vapor region, and a bibliography of approximately 450 references.