A multi-purpose program for processing exponential data has been prepared for the 709 computer. The main purposes of the program is to compute the material buckling from raw data (given counts, time, and counter information) or from previously calculated Athermal's. It is also possible to compute only CeCh (end and harmonic corrections) for a given B11 or series if B11's no counting data being entered. In every case, pile measurements must be submitted as input for corrections.

Summary: A method was found for determining calcium concentrations in TBP process streams in spite of serious interferences bysodium, ferrous, uranyl, sulfate, phosphate, and sulfamate ions as well as by TBP. The precision attainable varied from sample to sample, depending upon its composition. In general, errors of 20% or greater occurred. The smallest determinable amount of calcium was about 10 mg/1.

Laboratory studies involving fluid flow through porous media require use of fluids having low dissolved gas content. Water is the major fluid used in various and box model and soil permeability studies carried out by the Geochemical and Geophysical Research group. Tap water supplied to the 222-U Bldg. contains a large amount of dissolved air. Under the reduced pressure encountered during model studies, the air is released from solution and gradually clogs the pores of the sand or other porous material. This, of course. leads to anomalous results and cannot be tolerated in precious studies. A system was required to effectively remove the air and make available a continuous supply of desired water for the model studies.

This paper is a preliminary report of experiments being carried out on the compaction of UO₂ powders by swaging within a restraining tube. Various types of UO₂ have been tried with resulting apparent densities as great as 9.89 grams per cubic centimeter.

The build up of contaminated film on the internal surfaces of high temperature in-reactor recirculating water loops has created serious radiation exposure problems to operational and maintenance personnel. A considerable amount of work has been applied to develop an effective decontamination process for the decontamination of these loops and their components.

The following report provides data from corrosion tests meant to evaluate the performance of Type 3098Cb stainless steel in BiP04 process dissolver solution containing mercuric ion.

"The attached report summarizes the work performed in the establishment of an improved spectrographic method for determining iron in plutonium."

The following report examines methods to determine uranium nitrate hexahydrate on pretreated hexone in the range of 0 to 40 g./l. by infrared absorption measurements.

This article presents data on the effects of gamma radiation on the physical properties of a number of different classes of plastics materials of construction which were screened to determine their capabilities and limitations for service in applications where ionizing radiation exists. The irradiations were carried out in air at ambient temperature at normal atmospheric pressure to various gamma radiation doses up to 1*10^9 r depending upon the stability of the materials to radiation exposure. The different classes of materials and materials within a class are compared.

From introduction: "In this report an attempt was made to summarize the results of recent research on the effective height of smoke stacks. In this summary attention is paid only to the case in which the density of the stack effluent is the same as that of the surrounding air."

The object of this study was to determine whether agitation with ultrasonic energy would significantly increase the dissolution rate of nickel in nitric acid.

Objective: "The observations summarized in the present report were made to determine the stability of ferrous and sulfamate ions and sulfamic acid in RA Column scrub solution (RAS) and in aqueous solution comparable to the RA Column feed tee composition (RAFS). Knowledge of the stability of the reducing agent (ferrous iron) is necessary to properly plan the method of preparation and introduction of this component into the RA system and to assure dependable and reproducible performance."

Metallographic examination of an irradiated powder metal uranium slug from PT-313-105-4M⁽¹⁾ was undertaken primarily as an evaluation of recently remotized metallographic equipment. It was, also, proposed to compare the grain size with values obtained ultrasonically on the same slug. It was further proposed to make a comparison, so far as limited data permitted, of post-irradiated powder metal uranium grain size with that to be expected from normal uranium similarly irradiated.

From summary: "The relative absorptions of X-rays by various substances are listed as a guide to the application of the X-ray photometric method in chemical analysis and to the estimation of interference by extraneous substances."

An improved method of water plant control has been developed at Hanford which employs a sensitive turbidiy measuring microphorometer and a model water filtration plant. The microphotometer operates on a light scattering principle and is accurate in the range of 0.0 to 0.1 parts per million turbidity. The model filter plant used is a five gallon per minute plant which can simulate the conditions normally occurring in the large water plants. It is the purpose of this report to describe the model filter plant and to demonstrate the value of the model and microphotometer for effective water plant control and water plant design scoping.

Different methods of decontaminating plutonium contaminated skin were studied by contamination localized areas of pig skin and then testing the different decontamination methods. Results indicate that the most effective of the decontamination methods tested involved the application of a plastic adherent material to the skin and its later removal by peeling.

This report describes an improved infrared absorption method to analyze aqueous samples and TBP after extraction. The method described in the following pages is the carbon tetrachloride extraction method.

These initial operating procedures have been prepared for interim use during the first operation of Basins I, II, and III. They will be revised and included in the operating manual for the entire 105-C Metal Examination Facility.

Much attention has been given to the application of zirconium and zirconium alloys to process tubing for reactors. The properties of this material which make it attractive for such use are, as compared to aluminum: lower neutron absorption; higher design strength; and better corrosion resistance in hot water. Installation of process tubes in HAPO reactors requires that gas tight and water tight joints be maintained between the gunbarrel and process tube, and the process tube and nozzle, respectively. With aluminum tubes this is accomplished by forming a Van Stone flange at the ends of the tube and clamping the flanges between the gunbarrel and nozzle with suitable gasketing. No changes would be required in the existing pile components to install zirconium or zirconium alloy tubes if Van Stone flanges could be formed on these tubes. other methods have been tested, however, which eliminate the necessity for a flange. These will be discussed later.

The following report describes work carried out to investigate whether the Hanford IB column as designed in a previous report will decontaminate the uranium adequately from plutonium, particularly if there's any slowness in either the rate of reduction or transfer of the plutonium.

This report follows an investigation of a cargo truck found contaminated by various radioactive material on a routine trip from Arco, Idaho to the Hanford plant on May 8, 1952. The report analyzes the truck's route in an attempt to find the location of the contaminating region.

The design of NPR shows large quantities of carbon steel pipe and fittings in the front and rear face areas. These are also the area where the most work must be done during an outage, and consequently lower radiation levels are needed here than elsewhere in the piping system. A single pass decontamination of the front and rear piping without going through the entire loop is desirable. Because of the quantities of chemicals and available down time, an effective shorty interval process is needed. This report gives some recent laboratory data on this subject.

The Interim Power Fuels Reprocessing Program, as established by the Atomic Energy Commission, provides the service of recovering uranium, thorium, plutonium, etc., from irradiated fuels discharged from non-production reactors of both public and private ownership. To provide this service on an interim basis and at minimum capital investment, the Commission has assigned the processing responsibility for the various fuel types to several AEC sites. The sites are to be assigned fuel types most similar to their normal production. As a result, HAPO has been assigned the responsibility for processing the low enrichment uranium and uranium oxide type fuels with isotopic content up to 5% uranium-235. In addition, some plutonium base fuels will be processed at Hanford.

This paper describes the measurement of control rod strength in the PCTR. The first section outlines the theory and method of such a measurement, and the second section presents the results of the measurement of the Experimental Gas Cooled Reactor (EGCR) control rod strength. The reactor parameter actually inferred is the difference in the infinitive multiplication factor for a control rod supercell with and without the control rod in place in the supercell. These measurements are, therefore, very closely related to the measurement of k∞ for an ordinary lattice cell.