Progress is reported on (1) experimental breeder reactor program, (2) solvent extraction, (3) fluoride volatilization separation process, (4) elevated temperature separations, (5) denitration of uranyl nitrate in a fluidized bed, (6) development of analytical techniques, (7) processing and utilization of radioactive wastes.

Experimental data pertinent to the evaluation of hazards involved in the exposure of personnel to tritium and tritium oxide are reviewed. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made with regard to the control of these hazards.

The prompt administration of zirconium citrate was at least twice as effective as the prompt administration of calcium disodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (CaEDTA) in preventing deposition of plutonium in the skeleton. On the other hand, CaEDTA was twice as effective as zirconium citrate in preventing the deposition of plutonium in soft tissues. The combined administration of zirconium citrate and CaEDTA was the most effective treatment for preventing the deposition of plutonium in the total rat. Zirconium malate offered no advantage over zirconium citrate, and appeared to be somewhat more toxic. Three doses of the zirconium salts over a four-day period were no more effective than a single dose.

Purpose: Automatic recording equipment was designed for use with a high temperature Sykes experiment in which calorimetric measurements were to be made to temperatures approaching 2000* C. At such high temperatures, radiation becomes the dominant mechanism for heat transfer. The temperature differences which are used to determine the magnitude of this transfer no longer are directly proportional to it, but must be related by the Stefan-Boltzman law of radiation.

The feasibility of using Teflon bellows as the pulsing device for solvent extraction pulse columns has been previously demonstrated by life test of various sizes of Teflon bellows. This report describes a compact Teflon bellows pulse generator and drive assembly which was designed, built, and tested by the Chemical Development Unit. The pulse generator assembly is suitable for a number of applications where pulse generators are required to pulse solvent extraction columns.

From abstract: A conceptual design study has been performed for a sodium cooled, graphite moderated, thermal power-breeder reactor utilizing the Thorium-Uranium 233 breeding cycle. Several aspects of the design of the system are considered but no attempt has been made to supply all the details. It appears that the design presented is feasible and will allow the production of economic power as well as full utilization of thorium resources.

The linearized drag integral for bodies of revolution at supersonic speeds is presented in a double-integral form which is not based on slender-body approximations but which reduces to the equal slender-body expression in the proper limit. With the aid of a suitably chosen auxiliary condition, the minimum-external-wave-drag problem is solved for a transition section connecting two semi-infinite cylinders. The projectile tip is a special case and is compared with the Von Karman projectile tip. Calculations are presented which indicate that the method of analysis gives good first-order results in the moderate supersonic range.

Report presenting an investigation to determine the effects of location of bodies (finned and unfinned) on the aerodynamic characteristics of unswept- and swept-wing--fuselage models and to determine the aerodynamic loads on the bodies in the presence of the wings. Results for the complete model characteristics and for the body are provided.

Introduction: During the year 1952-1953, research on the Boulder batholith program was largely devoted to basic mineralogy studies of the "siliceous reef" and, to the extent possible at that time, the "base metal" deposits.

"A study has been made of methods to prepare a fluid containing 1 gram of thorium per milliliter. The methods considered were solutions of thorium salts, suspensions of dry solids in water, and collodial suspensions. Thorium oxide, oxalate, and fluoride were tried in conjunction with one or more surface actants, but it was not possible to attain the required thorium concentration. Thorium hydrosol, produced by peptization of thorium hydroxide and subsequent electrodialysis, gave the necessary concentration of 1 gram per milliliter. A solution of 0.5 gram per milliliter was found to be stable to electron irradiation and did not flocculate upon shaking or standing. Selected surface actans which might be used as protective colloids were found to be unstable to electron irradiation.

This technical report summarizes the work which has been done to date on the preparation of magnesium hydride and the attempted preparation of beryllium hydride. Although pure beryllium hydride has not yet been made, the work is continuing, and this report indicates which phases are thought to be worth further work.

"Continued progress has been made with the high temperature decontamination processes for irradiated uranium fuel. The fused salt treatment of molten uranium has been extended to UCl3. Plutonium and rare earths were extracted into the UCl3 phase. Direct plutonium distillation from molten irradiated uranium has been scaled up to the hundred gram scale. Solid scavenging experiments using uranium oxide, uranium carbide, and uranium nitride in contact with molten uranium have indicated fission product removal. A scaled-up investigation of the separation and recover of uranium from an SIR type ceramic fuel using the volatile fluoride process has indicated the feasibility of this separation method. The effect of irradiation on the decomposition of BrF3 has been further studies in experiments using the NAA statitron.'

Report presenting the characteristics of an asymmetric free-jet facility constructed to investigate a 48-inch-diameter ramjet engine and the associated asymmetric supersonic inlet and inlet diffuser. The design flow Mach number of 2.755 could not be established in the free-jet facility with dry inlet air at a temperature of 528 degrees Fahrenheit and overall pressure ratios up to 11.

Report presenting a transonic wind-tunnel investigation of several sweptback wing-body configurations to determine the effects of twist and camber with incidence, the separate effects of twist without camber, and the influence of body indentation on the effects of twist and camber, and twist alone.

"A wind-tunnel investigation was conducted to determine the effect of applying area-suction boundary-layer control to a constant-chord plain flap on a triangular wing of aspect ratio 2. The results showed that with small amounts of suction applied near the leading edge of the flap, high lift at relatively low attitudes can be obtained" (p. 1). The typical lift, drag, pitching-moment data, effects of the porous area, effects of suction, and comparison of theoretical and experimental flap lift are described.

Progress is reported on (1) direct cycle boiling reactor studies, (2) solvent extraction, (3) fluoride volatilization separation process, (4) elevated temperature separations, (5) fluidization studies, (6) development of analytical techniques, (7) processing and utilization of radioactive wastes.

"For a central station reactor power plant of the sodium-graphite type, two designs have been investigated. The first operates as a converter using slightly enriched uranium fuel and produces 150 electrical megawatts. The second operates as a thermal breeder using a U233-Th alloy fuel and produces 300 electrical megawatts. Consideration has also been given to the problem associated with the design and operation of the Sodium Reactor Experiment. All work related to the plutonium plus power sodium-graphite pilot plant, which was undertaken at an earlier date, has been completed."

Concurrently with the production of canned uranium slugs for pile operation there arises the problem of nondestructive testing so that no slug which may fail structurally during operation be placed in the pile. The ultimate goal of any such testing program is to devise nondestructive testing methods which will eliminate defective slugs. A secondary goal of the testing program is to learn as much as possible about the construction of the canned slug so that the mechanisms of failure can be understood. Radiography, an increasingly useful nondestructive test method, offered one possible way of investigating this area.

Introduction: The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate that a liquid metal heat transfer system could be built and operated at very high temperatures.

"Scale-up work on high temperature fuel recovery processes has progressed to the point where the (high temperature) vacuum furnace for several operations to the hot cells has been completed and tested under operating conditions. Small scale experiments on high temperature methods for processing molten irradiated uranium fuel have been made with spent X-10 fuel slug pieces. The results of direct Pu evaporation, treatment with fused fluorides and oxide scavenging were every similar to those found with tracer experiments."

"Engineering pertinent to the development of the sodium-cooled, graphite-moderated type of reactor was continued. This included work on problems related to the zirconium canned moderator, low enrichment uranium fuel, sodium piping, secondary coolant system, shielding, and the control and safety elements. A large fraction of the work was devoted specifically to problems of the proposed Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) configuration. In this connection, an integrated effort was initiated to prepare a complete preliminary design of the SRE by an early date. In addition, two alternate sodium-graphite reactor configurations were studied. One was an intermediate size, 145 thermal megawatt, unit optimized for the production of low cost plutonium. The second was a low power 10 thermal megawatt intended for power production, but in which sodium circulation through the core was entirely dependent upon thermal convection."

"The Atomic energy Commission has undertaken a development program to provide the technology needed for the evaluation and economic design of nuclear power plants. This program is to be carried out during the next five years at several national laboratories and industrial organizations. The Sodium Graphite Reactor (the SGR) is one of those to be investigated and experimentally tested as part of this 5-year effort. The program on the SGR is intended to expand our area of information covering sodium-graphite technology, experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of this reactor complex and extend its performance limits, and apply in information developed to designs suitable for the full-scale nuclear power plant. As a principal part of this program, a Sodium Reactor Experiment (the SRE) is to be constructed and operated; it will be the major experimental facility in which the performance of this reactor will be studied and new technological advances tested. This report continues an earlier series 2-7 in which previous work on the SGR and the SRE has been described. In this report, the progress on the program is described in two main sections. Section A is devoted to work relating to the general technology of Sodium Graphite Reactors, and to …

The index of refraction of PuO2 made by thermal decomposition of PU(C2O2, 6H2O gradually increases from a value < 1.9 to 2.40 as the decomposition temperature is increased from 150 degree to l000 degree C. This change in refractive index parallels a gradual change in the x-ray diffraction pattern from weak, diffuse lines for PuO2 ignited at 150° to sharp, well resolved lines for PuO2 ignited at 1000°C. Similar results are observed for PuO2 made by thermal decomposition of Pu2(C2O4)3*11H2O. The refractive index of PuO2 made from Pu metal at 170°C is 2.40 and is not affected by further ignition at higher temperatures, although crystal growth does occur. The rate of solution of PuO2 in an HCl-KI solution is greatest for samples prepared at low temperatures and decreases markedly for oxides ignited at higher temperatures. These observations hive been interpreted to mean that ignition at higher temperatures causes a gradual perfection of the originally highly distorted and impurity-containing PuO2 lattice obtained by low temperature decomposition of the oxalates and promotes the slow growth of crystallites. Both factors decrease the reactivity of the PuO2.

This technical report includes (1) World-wide Network (Maps). (2) Fallout of Sr90 at selected sites during June and July. (3) Comparison of Sr90 collection by gummed paper and pot on the roof of the New York Operations Office March through July. (4) Sr90 contamination of cow's milk in Metropolitan New York. (5) Sr90 content of the upper air prior to Castle. (6) Sr90 contamination of pooled fetal bones collected during June from the Metropolitan Area. (7) Sr90 contamination of water supply in the Metropolitan Area June and July.