Uranium has been successfully impact extruded into typical cylindrical shapes of conventional design. Extrusion was carried out in the "gamma" region by heating cast uranium slugs to a temperature of approximately 1050 degrees C. Protection against oxidation was afforded by surrounding the slugs during heating with an inert atmosphere of argon gas. Impact extruded shapes possessed physical properties which are better than the properties of as-cast metal. Also, extruded shapes show a uniform internal structure with flow lines characteristic of commercial impact extruded pieces formed from other metals. Impact extrusion, as a fabricating processes for uranium, maybe applied successfully to produce complicated shapes or forms not practical by casting or where savings in metal and machining time is desired. The process would not appear to be commercial unless a large quantity of pieces was required.

The total cross sections of the reactions DDp, DDn, TD at 10 kev to 10 Mev are estimated from a review of the experimental data up to January 1951. Maxwell averages for DDp and TD computed from these estimates are given, together with some fitted analytic expressions provided for machine use. A collection of the identifiable earlier estimates is also included for reference and for comparison with the new figures. For relative order of magnitude purposes, cross sections and the derived Maxwell averages are given down to 50 ev using the theoretical Gamow slopes for the extrapolation. Gamow plots for the derived cross sections above l0 kev arc also given. Much of the primary experimental data exists in the form of thick target yields and we find the most uncertain factor in converting these thick targets yields into cross sections is the magnitude of the D/sub 2/O stopping cross section. The particular D/sub 2/O stopping cross section relation used in this derivation together with some of the earlier stopping cross sections are given. Thick target yields are included for both DD and TD on D/sub 2/ targets, at 0.01 to 1 Mev, experimental values being supplemented by calculated values.

Abstract: "Decontamination factors of the order of 10-4 were obtained for Beta and Gamma emitters present as fission products when uranium was precipitated from 50 mC activity level solutions as uranyl oxalate under normal uranium yield conditions for three cycles (~60%). Factors of the order of 10-3 were obtained by the use of this reaction with similar solutions under relatively high uranium yield conditions for three cycles (~90%). The uranium peroxide precipitation reaction proved to be of no value on such solutions, yielding decontamination factors of only 17.1 Beta emitters and 1.2 for Gamma emitters for three cycles."