The decontamination of portable instruments by the Calibration Unit has presented a problem for some time. Most of the contamination is in the 100 to 500 c/m or 500 to 2000 d/m range. Higher levels of contamination can usually be reduced to these levels, but further cleaning proves quite difficult

The following report analyzes whether there is a difference between the neutron streaming in the "armor plate" and 347 stainless steel.

A spectrometer has been used with a hollow prism electrically heated to 70 C to measure the refractive indices of solutions of uranium hexafluoride in bromine trifluoride and uranium hexafluoride in bromine pentafluoride. The refractive indices of the two binary systems have been expressed as a function of composition.

Plus-minus ratios for pion production by 340-Mev proton bombardment were measured at 13 Mev, 18 Mev, and 42 Mev with the use of the spiral orbit spectrometer.

Abstract: The rate of reaction of oxygen with arc-melted and rolled iodide thorium has been found to obey the parabolic rate law in the temperature range of 850 to 1415 C at 1 atmosphere pressure. The rate constant can be expressed as k = 6 x 10⁷ x e⁻⁶³³⁰⁰/RT cm²/sec. The energy of activation, 63,300 cal/mole, has a probable error of 2,100 cal/mole.

During the canning of slugs for Production Test 313-105-3-M, a high number of rejects were caused by gas voids in the A1-S1 bonding layer. Since the heat treatment of the slugs in a molten salt bath resulted in a chemically altered surface, an investigation was made to determine the volume of gas evolved from salt-bath heat-treated slugs as compared to other types of slugs. This test was designed as a preliminary test to determine if there were a significant differences.

Abstract:"The creep resistance of various uranium binary alloys was investigated at 1500 and 1800 F in vacuum. Tests were made on alloys of uranium with beryllium, columbium, molybdenum, tantalum, titanium, and zirconium and on molybdenum-UO2 composites. Of the alloys examined, those of the uranium-molybdenum system exhibited the best creep resistance. At 1500 F, creep rates of about 0.005%/hr were produced in uranium-molybdenum alloys by a stress of 2500 psi and, at 1800 F, similar creep rates were obtained in composites of 90 wt % molybdenum-10 wt % UO2 by a stress of 12,000 psi."

The remodeling, fabrication, and instrumentation of a high vacuum system are described. The faults encountered with the old system and their solution are outlined. Tests were made on diffusion pump oils and on the reduction of pump oil back diffusion. The measurement of high vacuum pressures by a cold cathode ionization gage at various points on a vacuum system are discussed.

Report discussing the effects of thermal diffusion length and certain details in the design of light water moderated reactors and their effect on reactivity.

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.

The following are some of the equipment currently used in the Health Physics counting rooms at the Laboratory: scintillation counters, end window beta-gamma counters, precipitcon beta-gamma counter, autoscaler beta-gamma counter, and continuous flow proportional counter. This technical report describes the equipment, supporting equipment, procedures, and sample preparation in use at the Laboratory.

Critical mass measurements on graphite-tamped, heterogeneous oralloy-graphite systems have been made as a safety guide for certain oralloy casting procedures. Various concentrations were obtained by alternately stacking 10.5 in. diameter oralloy and graphite plates. In the relation Oralloy critical mass = constant x (fraction of oralloy in the core volume) -n values for the exponent, n, in the neighborhood of 0.70 were obtained.

Abstract: "A method for determining hydrogen in lithium hydride by heating samples with lead at 600 C, was developed. The hydrogen evolved during thermal decomposition of the hydride is purified and oxidized to water with cupric oxide at 400 C. The analysis is completed by collecting and weighing this water. Success in development of the analytical procedure has depended upon a careful design and assembly of equipment for handling samples in a dry, inert atmosphere. For seven pure hydride samples analyzed by the recommended method the estimates of the standard deviation varied between 0.12 and 0.41 percent lithium hydride (or 1.3 and 4.2 parts per thousand) for 8 to 18 determinations on each sample. The procedure is relatively insensitive to variations in certain conditions. For single-piece samples weighing 0.2 to 0.5 gram it was found to be more satisfactory than a method which uses mercury in place of lead for sample decomposition. For powdered lithium hydride samples the lead and mercury methods are equally satisfactory."

This paper is issued in two volumes: LA-1664 and LA-1665. In LA-1664, the fundamental properties of a shock in free air are described, including the reasons for failure of similarity scaling. The results of an analytic solution for strong shocks are presented, which permit a determination of the energy in a shock wave from its rate of growth without recourse to similarity assumptions; from it the scaling laws for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous atmospheres are explicitly shown. The total energy is evaluated in a machine calculation for the blast wave and from this evaluation, the free air wave form for all hydrodynamic variables is presented. The general nature of the laws governing thermal radiation from atomic bombs is deduced, a new figure of merit for thermal radiation is suggested to replace the concepts of “thermal energy” and “critical calories,” which are considered ambiguous. Partition of energy is considered negligible in most cases of interest; the waste heat concept is reconsidered and the failures of scaling to TNT are regarded primarily as a failure of the ideal gas law. LA-1665 is concerned with preparation of height of burst curves. In the reflection process over ideal surfaces, the usual subdivision into regions …

This paper is issued in two volumes: LA-1664 and LA-1665. In LA-1664, the fundamental properties of a shock in free air are described, including the reasons for failure of similarity scaling. The results of an analytic solution for strong shocks are presented, which permit a determination of the energy in a shock wave from its rate of growth without recourse to similarity assumptions; from it the scaling laws for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous atmospheres are explicitly shown. The total energy is evaluated in a machine calculation for the blast wave and from this evaluation, the free air wave form for all hydrodynamic variables is presented. The general nature of the laws governing thermal radiation from atomic bombs is deduced, a new figure of merit for thermal radiation is suggested to replace the concepts of “thermal energy” and “critical calories,” which are considered ambiguous. Partition of energy is considered negligible in most cases of interest; the waste heat concept is reconsidered and the failures of scaling to TNT are regarded primarily as a failure of the ideal gas law. LA-1665 is concerned with preparation of height of burst curves. In the reflection process over ideal surfaces, the usual subdivision into regions …

A glass vacuum manifold and ionization chamber are evacuated and filled to atmospheric pressure with hydrogen and tritium. The hydrogen and tritium are evolved by dropping liquid, urine or water, on calcium metal and dried by passing through a suitable freezing bath. The current produced by the beta activity due to tritium is measured with a vibrating reed electrometer. The method has a precision of +3 per cent between the ranges of 100 and 1500 pc of tritium per liter. From O to 100 pc of tritium per liter the precision is +-5 to 10 per cent. The glass vacuum manifold has been constructed to fit in an aluminum suitcase which contains all the auxiliary equipment for the determination except the vacuum pump, vibrating reed electrometer, and the freezing bath solutions. The apparatus is sturdy and readily transported. The procedure is simple and adapted for use by untrained personnel.

Experiments performed by the Laboratory with the Borax Reactor at the National Reactor Testing Station have demonstrated that a boiling reactor possesses inherent safety characteristics which have not previously been included in the estimation of reactor hazards. Other operating characteristics of Borax were also sufficiently attractive to justify the development of boiling reactors for package power and central station power plant applications. Accordingly, a proposal was made to the Atomic Energy Commission that Argonne design, construct and operate a pilot-scale boiling reactor (BER) as part of the Commission's five year program for development of power reactors. Tentative approval for this project has been granted. The primary objective of the BER is to establish the feasibility of operating a boiling reactor in conjunction with a turbine generator on a scale which can be extrapolated to large sizes. A preliminary evaluation of hazards is hereby submitted for the purpose of determining site requirements for a 20 mw reactor of this type. Because the construction of the reactor would be expedited and its usefulness as an operating experiment greatly enhanced, it is suggested that the reactor should be constructed at the DuPage site of the Laboratory. If the inherent features of safety of …

Report discussing a proposed electron probe that is connected to the discharge current from a device called the Perhapsatron. "The Perhapsatron is an apparatus for the study of the type of magnetic containment known as the 'pinch effect.'"

The capillary trap method for the determination of carbon in metals (LA-1128) has been modified to give a fivefold improvement in sensitivity (0.1 microgram of carbon per millimeter). Samples from pure uranium buttons gave standard deviations ranging from 1.4 to 3.2 p.p.m. Varying sample size, in the range from 100 to 250 milligrams, did not affect the results significantly. The time required for an analysis is about 13-14 minutes. The method should be equally useful for plutonium.

Abstract: A method for separating small amounts of scandium (1 to 10 mg.) from a gram of uranium depends upon formation of insoluble uranium peroxide while the scandium in solution is complexed with ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid. The precipitated peroxide carries down less than 30 p.p.m. of scandium. Uranium left in solution, less than one milligram in amount, does not interfere when the scandium is precipitated as ammonium scandium tartrate and determined gravimetrically by ignition of the tartrate to the oxide.

Report discussing experiments to determine "whether there is a uniformity in the reactions involved in the fixation of carbon during the early steps of photosynthesis or whether there may also be differences in these basic reactions. To investigate this question and to determine whether any differences, should they occur, might be correlated with phylogenetic relationships, a survey of representatives of major plant groups was made with respect to the kinds and relative amounts of the compounds into which carbon was incorporated during short-term photosynthesis."

The following report is a collection of data and results from studies of zirconium alloy corrosion.

Abstract: "A titrimetric method for the determination of fluoride in plutonium is reported. Prior to a steam distillation of the fluoride, the bulk of the plutonium is separated by precipitation of the sulfate. The fluoride in the distillate is titrated at a pH of 3.2 with 0.001 M thorium nitrate, using chrome azurol-S indicator. Applied to samples containing 1 to 15 parts per million fluoride, the recovery is 87% and the precision on the 95% confidence level is +/- 0.65 ppm."

The following report follows the studies of electroplating on uranium and concurrent metallurgical clodding.