Of the available high strength ceramics, silicon nitride offers the most promise followed by silicon carbide and aluminum oxide, and stress analyses show severe limitations on allowable velocities for impact with granite following reentry for these ceramics. Impact velocities in the 100 to 200 fps regime can be achieved only by the addition of an additional layer to distribute the high contact stress. Besides impact limitations, application of ceramic materials in heat sources would present problems both in terms of weight and fabrication. The required thickness of a ceramic impact member would be comparable to that for a carbon-carbon composite material, but the least dense of the high strength ceramics are 2 to 3 times more dense than the carbon-carbon composites. Fabrication of a ceramic heat source would require a high strength bond between the fuel and the impact member if reasonable impact velocities are to be achieved. Formation of such a bond in ceramic materials is a difficult task under normal circumstances, and would be more difficult under the restrictions imposed on the processing and handling of the /sup 238/PuO/sub 2/ fuel. 16 fig.

A fluidized-bed incineration facility is being designed for installation at the Rocky Flats Plant to demonstrate a process for the combustion of transuranic waste. The unit capacity will be about 82 kg/hr of combustible waste. The combustion process will utilize in situ neutralization of acid gases generated in the process. The equipment design is based on data generated on a pilot unit and represents a scale-up of nine. Title I engineering is at least 70 percent complete. (auth)

None

Research and development are reported in the following areas: isotope separation and production for Ar, C, He, Kr, Ne, O, S, and Xe; testing of cubic B crystals for superconductivity; metal hydride research on band theory and electronic structure and spin-lattice relaxation times for VH/sub x/; separation chemistry of Pu, /sup 231/Pa, /sup 230/Th, /sup 229/Th, and /sup 234/U; adsorption of U and Pu by bone char; separation research for Ca and S isotopes; molecular beam scattering for Ar--Kr; and transport properties for the systems Ne--Ar, Ne--Kr, and Ar--Kr. (JSR)

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