Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Crawford Martin, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Validity of Senate Bill 292, Acts 60th Legislature, Regular Session, 1967, Chapter 729, page 1955 an Act relating to an Optional Retirement Program for teachers (Article 2922-1i, V. A. C. S.)

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Progress is reported in these areas: fuels development; reactor physics; plutonium utilization studies; and PRTR operatio.

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In the absence of oxidizing or reducing agents the chromatographic and coprecipitation behavior of element 102 is similar to that of the alkaline earth elements. After oxidation with ceric ions, the behavior is that expected of a trivalent actinide. The conclusion is that nobelium is the first actinide for which the +2 oxidation state is the most stable species in aqueous solution.

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Tests of mechanical and physical properties and cryogenic wear were performed to qualify a replacement material for the glass-reinforced Teflon used in the NERVA turbopump bearing retainer.

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In-tank solidification (ITS) of large quantities of goal of aged, alkaline radioactive waste solutions is an integral part of the overall Hanford Waste Management program. Thus, the first ITS unit is currently operational in the 102 BY tank and a second ITS unit recently became operational in the 112 BY tank. The 112 BY tank contains neutralized Metal Recovery Plant waste of the estimated gross salt composition 3.4M NaNO{sub 3}{minus}0.04M NaCl-0.31M NaCH. Tank samples and photographs of the tank interior confirm that a layer of organic material covers at least part of the aqueous waste. The exact volume of the organic material is not known but is presumed small. However, because of possible and unknown hazards, this organic material complicates ITS operations. The experiments summarized in this report were performed to determine the composition and some of the properties and reactions of the organic material to define such hazard.

Analysis of Columbia River temperature trends indicates conformity with those previously reported. Despite unusually high average temperatures, the temperatures of the upper and lower extremes continued to converge on the mean. The construction of the John Day Dam is expected to have little temperature effect other than a delay of ten days in the timing of the annual temperature peak. Measurements of radioactivity in 465 children were completed at the third Pasco elementary school on January 12. Whole-body counting at the fourth school began on January 24, following lectures to the staff and 17 classrooms. The whole-body counter was recalibrated for K{sup 40} and Zn{sup 65} in late January. Only small modifications in the calibration factors over those currently employed are expected. Washington State Game Department personnel have supplied sufficient pheasant and quail samples shot near the Columbia River for comparison of radionuclide content between species and collection of these samples has been discontinued. The Department of Game continues to supply ``road-kills`` for radiochemical analysis in exchange for x-ray data on the number of birds which contain shot. A game-bird questionnaire for mailing to a statistical sample of Tri-City hunting license holders was drafted in January.

Several methods of determining meteorite ages depend ages upon nuclides formed by cosmic ray interactions. The tactic assumption is always made that the intensity of cosmic radiation does not vary in time or space. However it is known that the intensity of cosmic radiation at the earth varies with the solar activity. The spectrum of cosmic ray protons and alpha particles exhibit a marked drop at the low energy end (<1.5 GeV) and the intensity in the region appears to follow the 11 year cycle of solar activity. The low energy cosmic rays increase in intensity with a decrease in solar activity. These changes in cosmic ray intensities are generally attributed to a modulation of the galactic cosmic radiation by the magnetic fields associated with the outward streaming solar material, the solar wind. One would therefore expect that the cosmic ray intensity several astronomical units from the sun is greater than the intensity at the earth's orbit, particularly at the low energy end of the spectrums.

The mode of dissolution of magnesium in molten magnesium chloride contacted with Mg-Pb alloys was studied at 750°C using anodic chronopotentiometry. An inert tantalum anode was used to determine relative amounts of magnesium dissolved in its chloride as a function of magnesium activity in the alloy. According to the law of mass action a linear dependence of magnesium solubility on a Mg indicates Mg2Cl2 as the reaction product and a parabolic dependence indicates MgCl. It was found that the amount of magnesium dissolved in its chloride was directly proportional to the magnesium activity in the metal phase, i.e., a linear dependence, indicating Mg2Cl2 as the subhalide species. Due to the corrosive nature of the Mg-MgCl2 system a special apparatus was used so that only the inert metals tantalum and molybdenum came in contact with the melt. Purification procedures and conditions for proper equilibration and measurement were established and are reported. The basic equation of chronopotentiometry, [equation not transcribed], was found to hold and at given magnesium activities the product [unintelligible] did not vary with the current, indicating the validity of the analytical technique.